(Image Source: The Guardian)
BY EMOKE BEBIAK
The French court fined two women on Thursday for breaking the burqa ban. These were the first fines issued since the law came into effect in April. BBC has the story.
“Today, Hind Amas and NajateAli were ordered to pay 120 and 80 Euros respectively for refusing to remove the veil in public.”
About 90 women have been stopped by the police since April, but no fines were issued until now. The Telegraph explains the case dates back to May...
“The women were arrested when they brought a birthday cake for mayor and MP Jean-Francois Copé, who pushed Europe's first anti-burqa law through parliament. Mr Copé is head of President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party.”
According to CNN, Amas in fact welcomes the fine. With the verdict in, she can appeal it in higher courts in hopes of reversing the ban.
“For me this is the beginning of the process to launch an appeal and get the attention of the European Court of Human Rights to attack the French state. I need to have this fine so that I can undertake the necessary appeal process.”
Channel 4 reports the fines were settled by a rich businessman who said,
“It's not up to a government to forbid someone from wearing what they want.”
Radio New Zealand explains Amas says the ban as a violation of her rights...
“Amas, 32, a divorced single mother said the decision to wear the niqab was her own. Since the ban was introduced, Amas has been banned from all public spaces including banks, shops and buses, and been verbally and physically assaulted in the street on more than one occasion.”
To clarify, both the burqa, which is a full-body covering, and the niqab, which covers the face exposing only the eyes, are banned in France. Huffington Post UK also adds the verdict comes less than a week after a ban on praying in the streets was ordered in France.
Transcript by Newsy
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