A 28-year-old woman has become the first person in Denmark to be fined for wearing a niqab in public, following the introduction of a new controversial law banning full-face Islamic veils in public places.
Police were called to a shopping centre in Horsholm yesterday, in the northeastern region of Nordsjaelland, where the woman had become involved in a scuffle with another woman who had tried to tear her niqab off, police duty officer David Borchersen told the Ritzau news agency."During the fight, her niqab came off, but by the time we arrived she had put it back on again," Mr Borchersen said. Police took a photograph of the woman wearing the niqab and obtained security camera footage from the shopping centre of the incident. The woman was informed she would receive a fine €134 in the post and was told to either remove her veil or leave the public space."She chose the latter," Mr Borchersen said. As of 1 August, wearing a burqa, which covers a person's entire face, or the niqab, which only shows the eyes, in public carries a fine of €134. Repeated violations are fined up to €1,300. The ban also targets other accessories that hide the face such as balaclavas, masks and false beards. Human rights campaigners have slammed the ban as a violation of women's rights, while supporters argue it enables better integration of Muslim immigrants into Danish society.
