Human rights appeal expected to follow veil fine

A FRENCH Muslim woman was fined €120 in court yesterday for wearing a full-face veil in public, prompting the single mother of three to vow an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Hind Ahmas said she would also appeal her sentence in a French court with the backing of French businessman Rachid Nekkaz, who has pledged to pay all fines imposed on burqa wearers under the ban. A second woman, Najate Naitali, was fined €80 in absentia by the court in Meaux, in the first court sentencing over a breach of the burqa ban.

The two had turned up at Meaux town hall in May, wearing burqas, to offer an almond birthday cake to Jean-Francois Cope, head of the UMP party. The gesture was not without humour: in French, “almond” sounds like “fine”.