Muslim Lawyer Readmitted To Court After Italian Judge Kicked Her Out Over Headscarf
02 February 2018Islamophobia 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
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