Muslim woman must remove niqab to give evidence during trial, judge rules

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A Muslim woman will be allowed to stand trial while wearing a full-face veil but must remove it while giving evidence, a judge has ruled.

Lawyers for the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had argued that it would breach her human rights and be counter to Britain’s tolerance of Islamic dress to remove her niqab against her wishes.

But Judge Peter Murphy, sitting at London’s Blackfriars Crown Court, said: “In general, the defendant is free to wear the niqab during trial. If the defendant gives evidence she must remove the niqab throughout her evidence. The court may use its inherent powers to do what it can to alleviate any discomfort, for example by allowing the use of screens or allowing her to give evidence by live link.”

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Trevor Kavanagh discovers feminism

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sun niqab cartoon

Today’s Sun features a characteristic rant by Trevor Kavanagh on the topical subject of the Muslim veil. Those familiar with his style will know what to expect. Informed analysis, nuanced argument? Forget it. The ignorant bigotry of a bar-room bore – that’s more Trev’s sort of thing.

There is I suppose some entertainment value in the spectacle of a man who is so incapable of self-reflection that he loudly denounces women being treated as objects and male property … five pages on from a photo of a semi-naked woman pouting at the camera.

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Twitter backlash over Devon MP’s ‘ban Islamic veils’ comments

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Sarah Wollaston niqab tweets

A Conservative MP has sparked a Twitter backlash after she said Islamic veils should be banned in all schools – suggesting they were “deeply offensive”. Dr Sarah Wollaston, MP for Totnes in Devon, said the niqab was “making women invisible” in a string of online comments.

She wrote on Twitter: “The niqab should be banned within schools & colleges; how on earth do they promote equality when they collude with making women invisible?” Moments later, the MP posted another message saying: “A general ban on the niqab simply won’t happen in the UK but that doesn’t mean that it should be endorsed by schools or courts.”

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Post-Woolwich backlash: Boris finally produces some figures

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Back in June, London Assembly member Murad Qureshi submitted the following question to mayor Boris Johnson: “Since the brutal attack on Lee Rigby, has there been an increase in the number of Islamaphobic incidents in London and if so, what form have these attacks taken?” He was told that “officers are drafting a response which will be sent shortly”.

In the absence of any such response, Qureshi was forced to table a further question for this month’s Mayor’s Question Time complaining at the failure to provide an answer and asking whether this indicated that the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime “does not have a grip on the scale of attacks against Muslims in London” since the Woolwich murder.

Boris has finally come up with the answer to Qureshi’s question, which is now available on the Greater London Authority website.

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Lib Dem minister calls for debate on Islamic veil

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Jeremy BrowneThe government should consider banning young Muslim women from wearing the veil in public places, a Liberal Democrat minister has said. The Home Office minister, Jeremy Browne, called for a national debate on whether the state should step in to prevent young women having the veil imposed upon them. His intervention came after a row erupted over the decision by Birmingham Metropolitan college to drop a ban on the wearing of full-face veils amid public protests.

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Torygraph joins anti-veil campaign

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Under the headline “The niqab is a worrying symbol of segregation” the Sunday Telegraph has an editorial supporting the prohibition of the veil in some circumstances. While it stops short of calling for complete ban, the Telegraph states that “facial communication is important in some parts of the public sphere, and … the relevant authorities should be at liberty to require it if they wish”. Like the Express, the paper thinks that Birmingham Metropolitan College capitulated to PC pressure by changing its rules to allow students to wear the niqab.

For the Sunday Telegraph the question of whether Muslim women should be allowed to cover their faces in public is apparently the issue of the week, because in addition to an editorial the paper also features a double-page spread on the niqab.

An article by the paper’s chief reporter Robert Mendick brackets the Birmingham Metropolitan College controversy with an ongoing legal dispute over whether a Muslim woman should be allowed to wear her niqab in court. According to Mendick, these are just two components of a Muslim-leftist plot: “An alliance of Islamic groups and Left-wing activists have been accused of conspiring to put pressure on institutions to overturn existing bans on the wearing of full-face coverings.”

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Thousands march through Montreal to protest Quebec values charter

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Montreal protest against PQ charter

Thousands jammed the streets of Montreal on Saturday afternoon to denounce Quebec’s proposed charter of values, calling on Premier Pauline Marois to put an end to “politics of division.” The protest march, billed as an inclusive, multicultural event, drew many members of the Muslim and Sikh communities in particular. Others who claimed no religious allegiance also took part.

A group from a local mosque walked with a large banner that read: “Multi-faith gathering for peace.” “This is a time for all religions to come together for what they believe in,” said Noman Safdar, a 24-year-old engineer who was helping hold up the sign. “We came here for freedom,” said Safdar, originally from Pakistan and wearing a Muslim cap. “You can’t go and impose things on people like this.”

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Le Pen wants to campaign with Wilders

Posted on by Bob Pitt

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen wants to campaign with Dutch anti-Islamic party leader Geert Wilders in next year’s European parliamentary elections, she said in an interview Saturday.

“We could perhaps campaign together for the elections,” Le Pen told Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad. “It’s important that the voter sees that we do not stand alone, that similar patriotic movements are active in every EU country,” she said.

Le Pen said earlier this year that she wants to begin a pan-European far-right parliamentary grouping, including her National Front (FN) party, after the May 2014 European elections.

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