Jail for refusal to remove burqa in Australia

[Tiki Tam Tam]

Jail for refusal to remove burqa in Australia

SYDNEY: Australian authorities Friday said motorists who refused to take off face-covering veils such as the burqa when asked to do so by police could be sent to jail for up to a year.

Under the changes to laws in New South Wales state, police will be able to ask drivers to remove helmets, masks, the face-covering niqab veil and the all-body garment the burqa.

Refusal to do so would incur a fine of Aus$220 (US$228), but in the most serious cases could result in up to a year in jail and a fine of Aus$5,500.

“People will only be required to remove a face covering for as long as it takes to identify them,” New South Wales state Premier Barry O’Farrell said.

“Those who want to be identified privately for cultural and religious reasons can request to go to a police station.” The changes, to be introduced to parliament next week, will also give officials the power to request the removal of face coverings in courts while visitors to prison could also be asked to remove any coverings that obscure their identity. Those who refuse could be fined up to $550.

“I have every respect for different religions and beliefs but when it comes to enforcing the law, the police should be given adequate powers to make a clear identification,” O’Farrell said in a statement.

The change follows the recent case of a Muslim woman being acquitted when a magistrate ruled she could not be positively identified because was wearing a burqa.

In the high-profile case, Sydney woman Carnita Matthews was sentenced to six months in jail in November 2010 for falsely accusing a police officer of forcibly trying to remove her burqa.

But her sentence was later quashed after a magistrate said he could not be 100 per cent sure it was Matthews who later walked into a police station to make the complaint because officers were not able to see the face of the accuser.

Police already have the power to ask women to remove face veils during the investigation of serious offences, but not on more routine matters.

The wearing of full-face niqab veils by some Muslim women has become a contentious issue in parts of Europe, where France has banned them in public.

The New South Wales state ombudsman will review the new laws after they have been in place for a year.

Jail for refusal to remove burqa in Australia | World | DAWN.COM

Here we go again.

 

[Luftwaffe]

Here we go again.

lol next time some australian couple kiss in public in qatar, u.a.e...shall be arrested and sent for 2 years.

 

[forcetrip]

Why not 10 years? Jail public displayers of affection as long as you can. They are allowed to pass as many insane laws as they want.

 

[Patrician]

Rights do not come without responsibilities.

The citizens have the right to wear burqas.

The police have the responsibility to prevent security threats from materializing.

 

[xLancex]

lol next time some australian couple kiss in public in qatar, u.a.e...shall be arrested and sent for 2 years.

And who will enforce that rule? You?

After all it's Australia. It's their land their rules, live by it or leave. simple.

 

[graphican]

Guys full veil is not Islamic but traditional. Allah wants women to keep their hands, feet and face visible in Haram, the most pious place where everybody appears in his/her best.

This is how Islam expects a women to be at most.

 

[Porus]

lol next time some australian couple kiss in public in qatar, u.a.e...shall be arrested and sent for 2 years.

The title of this news is very misleading. Under the newly amended law police can demand a person to remove his/her mask, veil or helmet for identification purpose, which makes a lot of sense.

Is there any such law in the Gulf states that proscribes people from kissing in public? If yes, then the"Australian couples" must abide by the local law or face the consequences.

 

[muse]

Rights do not come without responsibilities.

The citizens have the right to wear burqas.

The police have the responsibility to prevent security threats from materializing.

Way to go, Patrician - good stuff. Pakistanis need to learn that respect for laws and the law, in general, is a social good. The laws are open to legal challenge, but while that challenge is going on, they need to respect the law.

Islamists may get the benefit of the doubt in Pakistan, with the attendant terrorism, of course, but why should Australia or any other suffer because of Pakistanis soft spot for terrorism?

 

[Patrician]

Way to go, Patrician - good stuff. Pakistanis need to learn that respect for laws and the law, in general, is a social good. The laws are open to legal challenge, but while that challenge is going on, they need to respect the law.

Islamists may get the benefit of the doubt in Pakistan, with the attendant terrorism, of course, but why should Australia or any other suffer because of Pakistanis soft spot for terrorism?

I don't really think that Pakistanis have a soft spot for terrorism but I do believe that Pakistanis cannot see anything w/o their religious weltanschauung.

Pakistanis take things a bit too far when it comes to religion. Religion should never be the be all and end all of life.

Sometimes it is hard to tell whether Pakistanis exist for religion or religion exists for Pakistanis.

 

[Gautam]

Nothing wrong. Everyone should respect the law of the land.

 

[Imran Khan]

It's their land their rules, live by it or leave xLancex
is 100% right

 

[Executioner]

Chill maar yaar yeh sun

 

[Pukhtoon]

I don't really think that Pakistanis have a soft spot for terrorism but I do believe that Pakistanis cannot see anything w/o their religious weltanschauung.

Pakistanis take things a bit too far when it comes to religion. Religion should never be the be all and end all of life.

Sometimes it is hard to tell whether Pakistanis exist for religion or religion exists for Pakistanis.

Both are lazim and Malzoom But then again Pakistan is exist for Religion

 

[Hussein]

And who will enforce that rule? You?

After all it's Australia. It's their land their rules, live by it or leave. simple.

"live by it or leave"
lol
can you imagine you say this to the Jews in the 30s in Germany?
this sentence is often used but it is non sense when there is no argument behind it

when there is any rule in the world, when there is any rule in a country that you are not born in it,
when there is any rule in a country that you didn't agree but still why you would leave the country?,
it is always natural to have a discussion about it being fair or not

so instead of you i would say:
they do this i guess for security matter and in that purpose this is something that could be understood
no?

 

[punit]

and whats wröng with police of any country asking anyone to unmask his/her face.