Category Archives: State Oppression

Ontario appeal court rules that Muslim women may be forced to remove veil in criminal trials

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The right of a Muslim woman to wear a niqab while testifying in a criminal trial may be determined by judges on a “case-by-case assessment”, Ontario’s highest court has ruled. The court also set up a framework for lower courts to apply in balancing a defendant’s rights with a veiled woman’s religious freedoms.

A lower court had ordered a woman to remove her veil, prompting the appeal. The case involved a 32-year-old Muslim woman who alleged that her cousin and uncle had repeatedly sexually abused her when she was a child. A lower court judge ordered the woman to remove her veil during a preliminary inquiry, sparking controversy in the Canadian Muslim community. The Superior Court then quashed that decision following an appeal.

The Ontario Court of Appeal said on Wednesday that Muslim witnesses should have the chance to explain their religious convictions and demonstrate why removing the niqab would offend those beliefs. But they must remove the traditional head covering to testify if the court decides that the veil jeopardises a fair trial.

“If, in the specific circumstances, the accused’s fair trial right can be honoured only by requiring the witness to remove the niqab, the niqab must be removed if the witness is to testify,” the court said.

BBC News, 14 October 2010

France: constitutional court approves veil ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

France’s constitutional court has approved the law set to ban wearing the Islamic full veil in public. It approved it almost in its entirety, making one small change: the law will not apply to public places of worship where it may violate religious freedom.

The proposed measure had already been passed by parliament. It is due to come into force next spring.

The law makes it illegal to wear garments such as the niqab or burka, which incorporate a full-face veil, anywhere in public. Under the ban, persons found wearing a full veil in public will face a fine of 150 euros (£130) and/or a citizenship course.

A last challenge is possible at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, where decisions are binding.

BBC News, 7 October 2010

Swiss canton rejects veil ban

Posted on by Bob Pitt

The government of Solothurn does not want a cantonal initiative against the burqa or niqab. It has rejected the request by a member of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, saying the phenomenon is too insignificant in Switzerland and in the canton. The canton of Aargau has already filed an initiative with Bern for a cantonal intiative to prohibit the Islamic veil.

WRS, 6 October 2010

Zakir Naik was asked to help combat extremism … then banned from the UK as an extremist

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Zakir NaikA controversial Islamic preacher who was banned from entering the country by the Home Secretary Theresa May has claimed that he was twice approached by security officials who wanted him to help educate disaffected young British Muslims.

The Mumbai-based evangelist and scholar Dr Zakir Naik – who was barred from entering the UK in June, a few days before he was due to give talks to thousands of Muslims in London, Birmingham and Sheffield – said that before the general election he was twice approached by British security officials to help reform those in danger of becoming extremists.

But, following the change of government, Ms May banned him from entering the country, highlighting contentious quotes he had given as justification. Dr Naik is to challenge her decision in the High Court this month, claiming that his comments have been taken out of context.

Dr Naik said: “In 2009, I was sounded out by government officials representing the Home Office and the anti-terrorism department to see if I would co-operate with them to reach out to misguided young Muslims.

“They said I would make an ideal envoy. I told them I would be happy to co-operate. Now after the change of government, the attitude has changed. Only last year the Government wanted me to help tackle terrorism; this year they are calling me a terrorist.”

Independent, 5 October 2010

Israel: Kadima MK proposes ‘banning the burqa’

Posted on by Bob Pitt

A member of the current Knesset is proposing a law that would prohibit the wearing of any garment that obscures the face and prevents identification, in any government office, at any entertainment venue, and on any means of public transportation. According to the legislator proposing the law, Kadima MK Marina Solodkin, its primary purpose is to liberate women from irrational religious restrictions. The bill mainly targets devout Muslims.

Solodkin explained, “This past Passover vacation I was in southern France. And in this French province, I saw for myself, women in full burqa. I said, enough! For me, as a former Soviet citizen and believing Jew, I will never allow it in Israel.”

Solodkin continued, “When I followed the campaign in France, I started asking questions. But not questions about why the ban on the burqa was being proposed. Rather, I asked why it was not proposed beforehand! So late… Where were the Western liberals when they saw what was going on in their own countries, to their own citizens?”

Two days after France’s lower house of parliament banned the burqa, Solodkin proposed her own anti-burqa bill to the Israeli Knesset.

Haaretz, 2 October 2010

New trial sought in Oregon Islamic charity case

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Prosecutors in the trial of the Oregon leader of an Islamic charity branch used appeals to provoke prejudice and emotion that included waving the Qur’an in the air and throwing it on the table in front of jurors, his lawyers say in a request for a new trial.

Pete Seda, of Ashland, was convicted Sept. 9 of conspiracy to defraud the government and filing a false tax return in what prosecutors alleged was a plot to smuggle $150,000 to Muslim fighters in Chechnya by using the Ashland branch of a Saudi Arabian charity, Al-Haramain.

Among the defense’s objections filed last week is that on the morning the verdict was reached, a juror was seen at breakfast in a Eugene hotel reading a front-page story in USA Today about the plan of a Florida pastor to burn a Qur’an two days later on the anniversary of the attacks.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Cardani was named in the filing as the prosecutor who waved “the Qur’an around and then tossed it down on the table directly in front of the jury. The defense motion argues that Cardani waved the Noble Qur’an as he spoke to the jury about its distribution to “violent people, serving time.”

The defense said the use of the Qur’an “had the effect of allowing jurors to act based on emotion and also profoundly disrespected the defendant’s religion.” The action was part of a trial “tainted with fear of Muslims, Islam and terrorism,” the defense said.

Associated Press, 29 September 2010

West Midlands Police apologise for spying on Muslim community

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Birmingham spy camerasBritish police apologized Thursday for a counterterrorism project that installed surveillance cameras in predominantly Muslim neighborhoods, saying that although the cameras had never been switched on, the program had damaged trust and caused anger in the community.

The surveillance program, which saw more than 200 CCTV cameras and number plate recognition devices put up in parts of Birmingham, central England, was conceived in 2007 after a series of terrorist plots were uncovered in the city.

Residents complained that they were not consulted about the program, and civil liberties groups protested that the measures were heavy-handed.

Protests from human rights groups led police to decide not to begin using the cameras after an installation program was completed. Some have been covered with plastic bags to reassure locals that footage or license plate details are not being captured.

An independent review conducted by Thames Valley Police, in southern England, criticized police in central England for the camera program. The review found “little evidence of thought being given to compliance with the legal or regulatory framework” before the cameras were put up.

West Midlands Police constable Chris Sims said authorities had made a mistake in not considering the impact of the cameras in intruding into people’s privacy. “I am sorry that we got such an important issue so wrong and deeply sorry that it has had such a negative impact on our communities,” he told reporters.

Associated Press, 30 September 2010

See also “Police surveillance of Muslims set up with ‘no regard for law'”, Guardian, 1 October 2010

What does Wilders get from the coalition deal? A ban on the veil and a crackdown on immigration

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Netherlands coalition deal announced2

The Netherlands will ban the burqa, anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders said Thursday following the announcement of a pact to form a minority coalition government backed by his party.

“There will also be a burqa ban,” Wilders told journalists in The Hague, announcing measures agreed on by three parties negotiating to form a new government.

The measures, which seek to cut government spending by 18 billion euros by 2015, should also halve the number of immigrants who enter the Netherlands, the politician said.

“A new wind will blow in the Netherlands,” Wilders said, standing alongside presumed prime minister in waiting Mark Rutte, who leads the pro-business VVD party, and Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) leader Maxime Verhagen – the two parties set to be in government.

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Zakir Naik appeal hearing set for 20 October

Posted on by Bob Pitt

Zakir_NaikAn Islamic scholar barred from entering the UK for his “unacceptable behaviour” has won the first round of his court battle against the Home Secretary’s ruling. A High Court judge decided the case for Dr Zakir Naik should be fast-tracked despite objections from Theresa May’s lawyers.

Dr Naik’s solicitor Tayab Ali is being assisted by two QCs from the chambers of Tony Blair’s wife Cherie Booth. He said: “It is manifestly unfair to proceed to judgment on the basis of remarks made many years previously.” Mr Ali added: “His comments have been taken extremely selectively and completely out of context.”

Dr Naik, 44, was banned from coming to Britain on June 16 for a charity tour. His supporters said the decision was blatant political posturing and unfair victimisation. The founder and chairman of global satellite channel Peace TV was due to address thousands in London, Birmingham and Sheffield. He has given more than 1,300 lectures around the world in the past 20 years.

Mr Justice Nichol ordered a two-day hearing to begin on October 20.

Sunday Express, 26 September 2010

Stand by for a renewed campaign from the right-wing press against Dr Naik and those who have opposed the ban. See for example “Anti-terror chief tried to secure UK entry for Muslim preacher” in the Daily Telegraph, which adds little to a report that appeared in the Sunday Times back in August.

For an illustration of the double standards applied by the Home Office when it comes to determining who is allowed into the country, see “Hindutva terrorist enters UK” in the Pakistan Daily Mail and Sunny Hundal’s post at Pickled Politics.