Muslim Lawyer Readmitted To Court After Italian Judge Kicked Her Out Over Headscarf

02 February 2018

Islamophobia Watch

A trainee lawyer was kicked out of a courtroom in Italy's Bologna for wearing the Muslim headscarf, reports said Thursday, in a ruling reversed after a day of strong criticism.

The 25-year-old Muslim woman identified as Asmae Belfakir, who attended the hearing as a trainee lawyer, was told by the judge to take off her headscarf or leave the courtroom at the Emilia-Romagna regional administrative court (TAR).

The Moroccan-born woman refused to take off her headscarf and chose to leave the hearing.

After the action stirred criticism from several legal and community groups, the decision was reversed Wednesday evening.

The Bologna TAR president said later in the day Belfakir could return to the court wearing her headscarf, 'without problems.'

Having completed a law degree at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Belfakir was chosen as a trainee by the legal office of the university.

Speaking to Italian media outlets, Belfakir said that she's never experienced anything like this before and had attended hearings at the regional and state courts wearing the religious garment.

The Organization of Young Italian Lawyers opposed the judge's action, saying that it is against constitutional principles and expressed solidarity with the Muslim woman.

The Muslim community coordinator of Bologna Yassine Lafram noted that there are no laws prohibiting the headscarf in courtrooms, adding that the judge adopted an 'arbitrary position.'

Social media users also condemned the judge for telling the Muslim woman to leave the hearing.

Far-right Extremism Continues To Rise In Italy

A neo-fascist party attacked the headquarters of the left-leaning La Repubblica newspaper Wednesday and declared 'war' against its publisher, the latest in a series of extremist, far-right and anti-immigrant incidents across Italy.

A dozen masked Forza Nuova supporters, dressed in black and carrying the party's flag, threw flares at the office housing Repubblica, its publisher L'Espresso Group and weekly magazine of the same name. They carried a banner reading 'Boycott L'Espresso and Repubblica.'

Repubblica has reported regularly on an escalation of incidents by Forza Nuova and other right-wing and skinhead movements targeting migrants. The paper's editorial line has also favored proposed legislation to accelerate citizenship for children born in Italy to immigrants.

In a statement on its Facebook page, Forza Nuova said it was 'declaring war' on Repubblica and L'Espresso, accusing it of 'carrying out the genocide of the Italian people' by supporting the citizenship legislation.

Anti-immigrant sentiment has been rising in Italy, as in the rest of Europe, thanks to the influx of would-be refugees of many nationalities arriving on boats from Libya. Tensions have grown more acute as Italy heads into general elections next year, with a center-right coalition including the anti-immigrant Northern League trying to regain the premiership from the Democratic Party.

Last week, a group of skinheads interrupted a meeting on housing migrants in the northern city of Como and read an anti-migrant manifesto, prompting calls for the Interior Ministry to formally dissolve such groups.

Interior Minister Marco Minnitti visited Repubblica Wednesday after the attack in a show of solidarity and called the attack unacceptable.

'There cannot exist in our country an organized group that declares war against ideas,' he said. Even Rome's mayor, Virginia Raggi — a frequent target of Repubblica's wrath — expressed solidarity with the paper 

©  EsinIslam.Com

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