A Moroccan-born trainee lawyer
was ejected from an Emilia-Romagna regional administrative court
(TAR) hearing because she was wearing the Muslim veil Wednesday
- though the ruling was reversed after a day of criticism.
Twenty-five-year-old Asmae Belfakir was asked by the judge
either to remove the hijab or leave the courtroom.
Belkafir, the legal representative of Bologna's Islamic
community, chose to leave.
A note pinned up outside the room said "anyone who takes part
in or attends the hearing cannot carry weapons or sticks and
must have an uncovered head and keep silent."
The Bologna Islamic community said "it is urgent that the
competent authorities clear up this case".
Community coordinator Yassine Lafram said "there are no laws
banning the veil in a courtroom" and said the judge had voiced
an "arbitrary position".
The organisation of young Italian lawyers (AIGA) said the
judge's action had been "inconceivable" and "against
constitutional principles".
It voiced solidarity with the young trainee.
The Bologna branch of the Italian lawyers' guild also voiced
sympathy with Belkafir.
It said the judge's action was "illegitimate, gravely
discriminatory and restrictive of the right to exercise one's
profession, as well as injurious to the dignity of the
individual professional and the whole legal community".
Edoardo Patriarca of the ruling centre-left Democratic Party
(PD) asked "what would have happened if it had been a nun".
He said "the case of the young Moroccan in court in a hijab
seems paradoxical to me.
"Once you have identified the person, what was the problem
with her wearing the veil?
"If it had been a nun, would she, too, have been asked to
remove her veil?"
The leftwing Free and Equal (LeU) party urged the judiciary's
self-governing body, the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM),
to overrule the judge, saying "freedom to express one's religion
should be upheld".
But Galeazzo Bignami of Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right
Forza Italia (FI) party said those who criticised the judge
"evidently don't know Article 129 of the code of civil procedure
which lays down that those who take part in hearings must have
their heads uncovered".
The Council of State, Italy's highest administrative court,
said it would ask the TAR judge to explain why he ejected the
trainee.
The president of the Council of State, Alessandro Pajno,
asked the secretary-general to ask the TAR judge for a "detailed
report on what happened in order to be able to make a thorough
assessment of the facts".
The judge in the case, Giancarlo Mozzarelli, declined to
comment.
Belkafir, the trainee who was ejected, has a degree in law
from the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, with a thesis
on women's bodies and Islamic law.
She was chosen as a trainee by the legal office of the
Emilian university.
Some of her statements on these issues can be found on the
Internet.
On Wednesday evening the ruling was reversed.
The Bologna TAR chief said she could return to the court
with her hijab on.
Belkafir will be able to return with her veil on "without
problems," Bologna TAR President Giuseppe Di Nunzio said.
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