فرنسا: محكمة تلغي حكم تغريم مسلمة لقيادتها السيارة مرتدية النقاب

ألغت محكمة فرنسية بمدينة "نانت" الغرامة التي فُرضت من قبل شرطة المواصلات في إبريل الماضي ضد إحدى المسلمات بسبب قيادتها السيارة مرتدية النقاب, وهو ما زعمت الشرطة تأثيره على رؤيتها للطريق.

وقد أكد "جان بولونو" - محامي الدفاع عن المرأة المسلمة - أن المحكمة الفرنسية أكدت في حيثيات إبطال الغرامة مبدأ الحرية, وقالت: نحن في بلد حر; ونتيجة لذلك فكل ما ليس ممنوعًا مسموح.

وتأتي هذه الغرامة - التي فُرضت قبل التطبيق الفعلي لقانون حظر النقاب - في ظل مخاوف كثير من المسلمين من تذكية وتيرة كراهية الإسلام; حيث تعتبر المساجد أهدافًا لممارسات العنف والكراهية.

الخبر من مصدره الأصلي:

French court annuls fine for driver in Muslim veil

A French court has annulled a fine given to a woman driver wearing an Islamic face veil, months before a ban on wearing the garments goes into effect.

Traffic police in the western city of Nantes fined 31-year-old Sandrine Mouleres euro22 ($29.22) in April, saying she did not have a clear field of vision, but the court quashed the fine Monday.

Jean-Michel Pollono, Mouleres' attorney, said the court in Nantes had ruled "we are in a free country, and as a result, everything that isn't forbidden is allowed."

The initial fine drew widespread attention amid a nationwide debate over the place of Islamic veils. In September, the French parliament agreed to a ban on face-covering veils - such as the niqab or burqa - from being worn in public. The ban goes into effect in spring.

Many Muslims see the legislation as another blow to Islam - France's No. 2 religion - and fear it could raise levels of Islamophobia in a country where mosques are sporadic targets of hate.

Proponents of the new law, however, have said it will preserve French values, including secular foundations and women's rights.

The law sets fines of euro150 ($199) - or/and citizenship classes - for any woman, including tourists, caught covering her face. It also carries much heavier penalties for anyone, such as husbands or brothers, convicted of forcing the veil on a woman.