France/Belgium: Veil arrests

France/Belgium: Veil arrests



In Belgium three people were detained when they tried to stop police from checking a woman wearing a niqab (Via VRT):
Police detained a woman in the Brussels borough of Schaarbeek on Tuesday because she was wearing a niqab. The garment is a full veil sometimes worn by Muslim women that only leaves the eyes uncovered. It is banned in Belgium.

The incident arose when the police attempted to check the woman's identity. Police officer Roland Thiébault :"Her husband refused to let us carry out an identity check invoking the woman's human rights. The couple became more and more aggressive and then a bystander intervened. This person too created a serious disturbance on the public highway."

(source)

And in France a woman was fined for driving while wearing a veil (Via the Local):
A woman in Brittany was slapped with a €35 ($45) fine after police spotted her driving her car wearing a full-face veil.

The woman, who was visiting family in the north-west coastal town of Saint-Brieuc, was wearing the face-covering niqab, reported daily newspaper 20 Minutes.

Police stopped the woman who "seemed hesitant in her driving," said local police spokesman Laurent Dufour.

"On closer inspection, they realized she was veiled," he said.

(source)