French court fines women for wearing veils

<p> </p><p><img alt="" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTMEiQfwHed2YNP5e2dLqU-rjgCHdpSaWtUSVFDjb7iZR6-FxRjWH1vh78H__6txZQ4uIJ5O5RgfLGe2o2RLTh6nFOPqr583lCe5alRqq97kJ8g7bh8S2B1nHCDSWfqJq-y6XuxpGTPfc/" style="vertical-align: text-bottom;" width="180" />France's fines on women for wearing the full-face covering niqab veil, imposed for the first time by a court on Thursday, are a "travesty of justice," Amnesty International says. Police have issued several on-the-spot fines since the ban came into force in April but the hearing saw the first two court-issued fines, and the Muslim women vowed to appeal their case all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. "This is a travesty of justice and a day of shame for France. These women are being punished for wearing what they want," Amnesty International's deputy director for Europe and Central Asia John Dalhuisen said in a statement. Advertisement: Story continues below "Instead of protecting women's rights, this ban violates their freedom of expression and religion." The court in the northern cheese-making town of Meaux ordered Hind Ahmas, 32, to pay a 120 ($A163) fine, while Najate Nait Ali, 36, was fined 80 euros. It did not order them to take a citizenship course, as the prosecutor had wanted. The women were arrested when they brought a birthday cake for local mayor and lawmaker Jean-Francois Cope, who is head of President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party that pushed through Europe's first anti-burqa law. France is not the only country to try to ban the Muslim full-face veil - Belgium and some Italian cities have similar laws, while other countries are planning to follow suit - so a European ruling could have broad effect. French officials estimate that only around 2,000 women, from a total Muslim population estimated at between four and six million, wear the full-face veils traditionally worn in parts of the Arab world and South Asia. Many Muslims and rights activists say the right-wing president is targeting one of France's most vulnerable groups to signal to anti-immigration voters that he shares their fear that Islam is a threat to French culture.</p>

French court fines women for wearing veils

  France's fines on women for wearing the full-face covering niqab veil, imposed for the first time by a court on Thursday, are a "...

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