Court Upholds Ban on Muslim Teachers Wearing Head Scarves in German State

January 15, 2007

Source: International Herald Tribune

Wire Service: AP

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/15/europe/EU-GEN-Germany-Head-Scarf-Ban.php

MUNICH, Germany: A court on Monday upheld a ban on Muslim teachers wearing head scarves in the schools of a German state under a law that says teachers' attire must be in line with "western Christian" values.

A Berlin-based Islamic association had complained about the law, which authorities in the conservative-run state of Bavaria have used to ban head scarves while allowing Roman Catholic nuns to continue to wear their head-covering habits in schools.

The Bavarian Constitutional Court ruled on Monday that the application of the law in the state neither violated religious freedom nor was discriminatory.

Conservative politicians welcomed the verdict.

An Islamic head scarf represented a "deliberate separation from western values, and that is not compatible with our constitution," Wolfgang Bosbach, a federal lawmaker for Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, said on N24 television.