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MrsA714
Baby #2 is here!
Member since 8/07 8806 total posts
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Police Stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
I had no idea that there were laws like this in place.
Link to story
Police stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
Several European countries are tightening laws on the veil
A woman visiting a post office in Novara, north-western Italy, has been stopped by police for wearing an Islamic veil covering her face.
A police official told the AFP news agency the woman would have to pay a 500-euro (£430) fine.
It is the first such police action since Novara brought in a by-law in January banning clothing preventing immediate identification in public.
The city is run by the anti-immigration Northern League.
The party is a powerful junior coalition partner in Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's national government.
'Not tolerated'
Novara Mayor Massimo Giordano said the by-law was meant to deter women from covering themselves with the veil in public.
"But unfortunately it is apparently not yet clear to everyone that clothes preventing the wearer's identification can be tolerated at home but not in public places, in schools, on buses or in post offices," he said, according to the Italian state news agency Ansa.
"There are still some people that refuse to understand that our community in Novara does not accept and does not want people going around wearing the burka."
He said the by-law was "the only tool at our disposal to stop behaviour that makes the already difficult process of integration even harder".
The woman, described as a Tunisian national, was apparently visiting the post office with her husband when she was stopped by police.
When her husband refused to let her be identified by male officers, they called in a female colleague, AFP reported.
Tighter rules
Italy has, since 1975, had a national anti-terrorism law which forbids any mask or clothing that makes it impossible to identify the wearer.
However, the law permits exceptions for "justified cause", which has often been interpreted by courts as including religious reasons for wearing a veil, Ansa reports.
Several local authorities have introduced tighter regulations, and a Northern League bill currently before parliament would specifically outlaw Islamic face veils.
Similar moves have been taking place in other Western European countries.
A ban on wearing masks and veils in public has passed the Belgian lower house and is set to go before the Senate. It would be the first such national law in Europe if approved.
The French government is pressing for similar legislation, and at the weekend a German member of the European Parliament said a ban should be enforced across the EU.
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Posted 5/5/10 3:51 PM  |
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maybesoon
LIF Adult
Member since 9/09 5981 total posts
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Re: Police Stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
Posted by MrsA714
Italy has, since 1975, had a national anti-terrorism law which forbids any mask or clothing that makes it impossible to identify the wearer.
This is interesting , I didn't know laws like this existed
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| Posted 5/5/10 5:19 PM |
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LSP2005
Bunny kisses are so cute!
Member since 5/05 19458 total posts
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L
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Re: Police Stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
I think it is the fact that she wore the veil into the post office. In NJ you cannot wear something obscuring your face in a bank (i.e. sunglasses, hats, scarves, etc.) I think it is the same thing.
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| Posted 5/5/10 7:05 PM |
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Erica
LIF Adult
Member since 5/05 11767 total posts
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Re: Police Stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
I remember a few years ago (5-10) in France there was controversy about a similar law and a Mulsim school girl.
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| Posted 5/6/10 7:50 PM |
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itkocak
Member since 7/07 7639 total posts
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Re: Police Stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
Message edited 11/28/2011 3:13:53 PM.
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| Posted 5/6/10 8:02 PM |
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LSP2005
Bunny kisses are so cute!
Member since 5/05 19458 total posts
Name:
L
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Re: Police Stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
Posted by imthekevinofcindyandkevin
couldn't get away with a law like that here ...
...yet
maybe when enough people die from car bombings, suicide bombers etc. & they become an everyday occurrence in this country like they are in europe, then but not now.
Actually they can. In Florida a Muslim woman wanted to wear a head covering everything but her eyes for her drivers license photo. They refused to issue her a license because you could not see her face. She lost.
From Wikipedia:
In 2002, Sultaana Freeman, (aka Sandra Keller, who converted to Islam in 1997 when marrying a Muslim man) sued the U.S. state of Florida for the right to wear a niqab for her driver's license photo. However, a Florida appellate court ruled that there was no violation in the state requiring her to show her face to a camera in a private room with only a female employee to take the picture, in exchange for the privilege of driving. The prevailing view is currently that hiding one's face on a form of photo identification defeats the purpose of having the picture taken.
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| Posted 5/6/10 8:26 PM |
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pandaworm
LIF Adult
Member since 8/08 1125 total posts
Name:
bethany
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Re: Police Stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
i'm sorry, i think that's disgusting. there would be an uproar if a law was passed that prevented a christian or jew from following their religious beliefs - why is islam an exception?
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| Posted 5/6/10 8:48 PM |
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WhatNow
Say Cheese!
Member since 1/06 8033 total posts
Name:
A (formerly WhatNow?)
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Re: Police Stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
Posted by imthekevinofcindyandkevin
couldn't get away with a law like that here ...
...yet
maybe when enough people die from car bombings, suicide bombers etc. & they become an everyday occurrence in this country like they are in europe, then but not now.
Exactly! Europe is waking up, it seems... They are much less PC about these things because they have been dealing with it for longer and have a different attitude towards those whose very presence in the country creates a potential threat...
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| Posted 5/6/10 9:08 PM |
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itkocak
Member since 7/07 7639 total posts
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Re: Police Stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
Message edited 11/27/2011 9:34:58 PM.
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| Posted 5/6/10 9:09 PM |
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LSP2005
Bunny kisses are so cute!
Member since 5/05 19458 total posts
Name:
L
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Re: Police Stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
You are correct when saying it is not a "law", however, it was an interpretation of existing laws that prohibited the woman from wearing a head covering in her driver's license photo. You don't always need a new law in order to prohibit something if the existing law is broad enough to encompass the potential act. That is, the judge found that the purpose of a driver's license photo was to show someone's face for identification purposes. The law did not need to say, no burkuas are allowed in a driver's license photo. In this case the woman challenged an existing law. The lower court and the appellate court held that the existing law was properly applied. Had it gone the other way, the government could create a new law to address the issue. It depends upon the situation at hand.
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| Posted 5/6/10 9:22 PM |
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itkocak
Member since 7/07 7639 total posts
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Re: Police Stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy
Message edited 11/27/2011 9:36:26 PM.
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| Posted 5/6/10 9:26 PM |
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