A lawyer representing a young woman arrested for wearing a full-face veil is trying to get France’s burka ban ruled unconstitutional. The trial of Cassandra Belin, whose arrest was followed by riots in Trappes, near Paris, began in Versailles on Wednesday.
Supporters of the ban, which was approved by the Constitutional Council in 2010 after three years of intense debate, is required for security reasons and to uphold the France’s secular traditions. But Belin’s lawyer, Philippe Bataille, argues that it targeted Muslims and is calling on the council to change its mind.
“The goal of this trial is to talk about this law that was approved too easily,” Bataille told RFI. “With this law, I feel as if the government wanted to defend the Republic with a capital R, against the Islamisation of society. It’s unfair and unacceptable. How does a woman walking on the street completely veiled poses a threat to public order?”
On Saturday iReMMO (institut de Recherche et d’études Méditerranée Moyen-Orient) is holding an 
A French court has upheld the controversial sacking of a childcare worker who wore a headscarf to work.
In August a Muslim prayer room at Lesparre-Médoc in southwestern France suffered two attacks in the space of a week, both of which involved the spraying of fascist graffiti, and in one case this was combined with attempted arson (see 
Six European far-right parties are joining forces ahead of EU-wide elections in May, in a bid to contain Brussels and take back national powers, Austria’s Freedom Party (FPOe) announced Monday.