By Elizabeth A. Conger
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

NOVARA, Italy – Italian police stopped a Muslim woman in the city of Novara in north-western Italy for wearing an Islamic face-covering veil.  The police told AFP that the woman, who was visiting the post office with her husband, was issued a 500 euro fine for wearing the veil. This marks the first application of a by-law instituted by the city in January banning the wearing of clothing preventing immediate identification in public.

Mayor of Novara, Massimo Giordano, said that the by-law was designed to deter women from covering themselves with the veil in public. He said:

“There are still some people that refuse to understand that our community in Novara does not accept and does not want people going around wearing the burka.”

According to the BBC, the city of Novara is run by the anti-immigration Northern League.  The Northern League is a powerful junior coalition partner in Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi’s national government, and currently has a bill before parliament which would outlaw the wearing of Islamic face veils in public.

The twenty-six-year-old woman stopped by police was described as a Tunisian national. After her husband refused to allow her to be identified by male officers, a female police officer was called in to make the identification.

Since 1975, the Italian government has had national anti-terrorism laws which prohibit the wearing of any mask or clothing that makes identification of the wearer impossible.  However, the law permits exceptions for “justified cause”, which has been interpreted by Italian courts to include the wearing of facial coverings for religious purposes – including the wearing of Islamic veils. Novara, and two other municipalities in northern Italy, have used the 1975 laws as the legal basis upon which they have banned Islamic veils.

The Novara by-law reflects similar efforts to ban veils which have been taking place across Western Europe. A ban on wearing masks and veils in public has recently passed the Belgian lower house and is set to go before the Senate. If approved, it would be the first national measure to ban Islamic facial coverings in Europe.

For more information, please see:

Al Jazeera – Italy Fines Muslim Woman Over Veil – 4 May 2010

BBC International – Police stop Muslim woman wearing veil in Italy – 3 May 2010

The Guardian – Muslim woman fined for wearing burqa in northern Italy – 3 May 2010