Woman Defies Headscarf Ban and Launches National Debate

August 30, 2005

Source: The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/08/30/wburqa30.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/08/30/ixworld.html

On August 30, 2005 The Telegraph reported, "A Moroccan woman living in a small town in Belgium has single-handedly triggered a national debate on multiculturalism after refusing to obey a municipal injunction to stop wearing a burqa. The woman has now prompted politicians in the Dutch-speaking north of Belgium to talk about changing federal law, after she became the first person in Belgium to be fined for wearing the all-enveloping veil and robe. She has so far refused to pay the £80 fine, or even to co-operate with police and municipal authorities in the Flemish town of Maaseik. The woman's husband was named in a Brussels court yesterday as one of 13 men accused of aiding and abetting terrorists linked to the Madrid train bombings."