Sarkozy backs Dati in virgin row

President Sarkozy said calls for justice minister Rachida Dati to resign over comments she made about a Muslim marriage annulment amounted to a ‘baseless lynching’.

Dati has been attacked by women’s rights group and opposition MPs who called for her to resign after she refused to condemn a judge’s decision to annul a marriage because the bride had lied about her virginity.

On Monday she bowed to pressure and ordered a government prosecutor to appeal the judge’s decision – despite continuing to insist that the ruling was legally sound.

In France a marriage can be annulled if one of the parties has lied about an ‘essential quality’ in the relationship.

A judge in Lille found grounds to annul the marriage of a Muslim couple after the bride admitted she had lied about her virginity.

Dati, who was brought up in a Muslim family, said the ruling should not be used to stigmatise France’s five million Muslims.

She became the first prominent politician of north-African origin after her appointment by Nicolas Sarkozy in May.

During a debate on the marriage ruling she attacked the left-wing’s policies of integration saying they had failed young Muslim women.

After opposition calls for her resignation, government spokesman Yves Yego said the president was satisfied with Dati’s work.

Mr Yego said: “The president said very clearly of Rachida Dati that she is the victim of a lynching campaign that is meaningless, baseless.

“This campaign must end as quickly as possible

“It is based on nothing except a will to harm someone who is doing their job well and who represents a sensibility that we need in government.”

Photo: AFP Bertrand Langlois