Fine for 'vigilante' who tore veil off Muslim
A Frenchman who ripped a Muslim woman's veil off her face as she strolled in a fairground was on Wednesday given a five-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to compensate his victim.
The 30-year-old man, who admitted charges of aggravated assault, had justified the September 2012 attack at the time as an attempt to uphold a controversial law banning women from wearing niqabs, face-covering veils, in public.
That defence was thrown out by public prosecutors, who accused him of acting as a vigilante and carrying out an assault motivated by his victim's religious faith.
The man, who was not publicly identified on the request of his lawyers, was also convicted of presenting a false identity to police.
The incident in the western city of Nantes was the latest in a series triggered by France's controversial ban on the wearing of full face veils in public, which came into force in April 2011.
Last September, Louis-Marie Suisse, a Muslim teenager in Marseille, was sent to prison for two months after being convicted of biting a policewoman in an altercation sparked by her arrest for wearing a full-face veil.
Under the law, women found guilty of wearing niqabs in public can be fined €150 or forced to undergo citizenship training.
Human rights group Amnesty International has condemned the legislation as breaching French citizens' right to freedom of expression.
See Also
The 30-year-old man, who admitted charges of aggravated assault, had justified the September 2012 attack at the time as an attempt to uphold a controversial law banning women from wearing niqabs, face-covering veils, in public.
That defence was thrown out by public prosecutors, who accused him of acting as a vigilante and carrying out an assault motivated by his victim's religious faith.
The man, who was not publicly identified on the request of his lawyers, was also convicted of presenting a false identity to police.
The incident in the western city of Nantes was the latest in a series triggered by France's controversial ban on the wearing of full face veils in public, which came into force in April 2011.
Last September, Louis-Marie Suisse, a Muslim teenager in Marseille, was sent to prison for two months after being convicted of biting a policewoman in an altercation sparked by her arrest for wearing a full-face veil.
Under the law, women found guilty of wearing niqabs in public can be fined €150 or forced to undergo citizenship training.
Human rights group Amnesty International has condemned the legislation as breaching French citizens' right to freedom of expression.
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.
Please log in here to leave a comment.