France – Police in France have been instructed to refrain from burka “hunts” or “public unveilings” of women wearing the full Islamic veil when a ban on the garment comes into force next week.
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France will become the second country in Europe, after Belgium, to apply the ban, starting April 11.
But officers have been ordered to apply the legislation with tact and diplomacy so as not inflame tensions, interior ministry guidelines leaked to the French press yesterday reveal.
Under the new law, women who wear face-covering Muslim veils, including the niqab and burka, in “public places” in France face being fined £125 or ordered to follow citizenship classes, or both.
The ban encompasses “the street and areas open to the public, as well as cinemas, restaurants, stations, public transport or schools”. Veils must also be removed while driving, while crossing borders or taking part in official ceremonies to acquire French nationality.
Husbands and fathers who force such veils on women and girls risk a year of prison and a £25,000 fine, with both penalties doubled if the victim is a minor.
But a nine-page document signed by Claude Guéant, the interior minister, stipulates that women wearing the full veil cannot be forcibly obliged to remove them in public.
Officers who stop a woman wearing the garment must instead “invite the person to show their face in order to check their identity and establish a fine.”
If the woman persists, officers are instructed to take her to the nearest police station “as a last resort,” but not to either place her in custody or keep her waiting for more than four hours.
If she still refuses to comply, the rules state that police should contact the public prosecutor.
Rather than force, police are invited to employ “persuasion” and, where possible, involve a female officer.
Read full article Telegraph
The prohibition is appropriate. Would yidden be happy if the police were allowed to rip off a sheitel from a frum woman while making an arrest or enforcing a prohibition on religous headgear?
its well known that very very very very very few muslims actually wear burkas. i am on coney island ave around i, h, and foster all the time. i’ve never seen any except on really cold days.
This law appears to have lost its teeth. However, I still think it will backfire, as it will strengthen Islamic resolve.
what about a ski mask can i wear one?
The law should have said any face covering to avoid maybe legal challenges
When I went to register to vote in Florida, I was told that I must be photographed without my headcovering (I am Sephardic and do not wear wigs) or I cannot register to vote. I had to pursue my case all the way to through the Board of Elections in order to obtain my voter registration card with a photo of me with a scarf on.
Recently I had to go to court as a witness and was not asked to remove my head covering by security. This was the first time that I walked right through wearing my simple black lycra snood without having to remove it.
This law is an abomination. It’s a broad daylight attack on freedom, and Chasidic Jews should know this best. To stick this argument, against this law, on liberalism, is absurd. The conservative right should be in the fore front of the fight against this attack on the freedom of the French people. let’s not forget the famous statement by Martin Niemoller: ….. they came after the Jews, and I didn’t respond because I wasn’t a Jew…. then they came after me and there was no on left to speak out for me. One day they’ll decide that the Chasidic garb inhibits the integration of the Jews into society, and they’ll ban it too. The bottom line is, that as a free country, people should be allowed to wear whatever they want, how they want it, and when they want.
to #10 – Women are not asked to remove their head covering in court, it is men who are asked to remove theirs. For men it is a sign of respect to remove their hats, I have no idea why.