Australian state toughens law for Muslim veils

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/australian-state-toughens-law-muslim-veils-004825911.html

By ROD McGUIRK | Associated Press – 2 hrs 5 mins ago

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Muslim women in Australia's most populous state will have to remove veils to have their signatures officially witnessed under the latest laws giving New South Wales officials authority to look under religious face coverings.

New South Wales state Attorney General Greg Smith said in a statement on Monday that beginning April 30, officials such as justices of the peace and lawyers who witness statutory declarations or affidavits without making identity checks will be fined 220 Australian dollars ($236).

The laws are a response to a notorious court case last year in which a Sydney woman was convicted of falsely claiming that a traffic policeman had attempted to remove her niqab — a veil that reveals only the eyes.

A judge overturned the conviction because the official who witnessed the false claim did not look under the veil of the person who made it, so the judge was not certain that the defendant was responsible.

The latest laws were passed Dec. 23 by the state parliament. They follow New South Wales laws passed last year that introduced a AU$5,500 ($5,900) fine for anyone who refuses to remove face coverings when requested to do so by police.

[Sofiyya 1,687]

Niquab are not "Muslim veils" or Islamic anyway. They are cultural, so who cares?

[slim 1,533]

If the fine is $5,000 for refusing to wear it, I'd imagine ALL criminals would start wearing them. "You can't make me remove it and as such, you don't know if I'm the one who stabbed that gentleman to death. I will pay my $5,000 and be on my way."

Do the Aussies not see this is now safeguarding the defense of anyone who claims "religious reasons" for concealing their identity?

Niquab are not "Muslim veils" or Islamic anyway. They are cultural, so who cares?

That's kind of like saying "those cars with the booming bass and spinning rims are cultural, so who cares when the police pull them over." Is that really your measure of protecting rights? Religion = yes. Culture = no?

[Sofiyya 1,687]

If the fine is $5,000 for refusing to wear it, I'd imagine ALL criminals would start wearing them. "You can't make me remove it and as such, you don't know if I'm the one who stabbed that gentleman to death. I will pay my $5,000 and be on my way."

Do the Aussies not see this is now safeguarding the defense of anyone who claims "religious reasons" for concealing their identity?

That's kind of like saying "those cars with the booming bass and spinning rims are cultural, so who cares when the police pull them over." Is that really your measure of protecting rights? Religion = yes. Culture = no?

They use religion to justify wearing it, but Islam doesn't make it a requirement, so, no, I'm not upholding a "right" to be anonymous in public in the name of Islam.