Italy: Facing prosecution for burqa in court

The wife of a Tunisian imam serving a 10-year jail term in Italy in connection with a terrorist plot will herself face prosecution for attending his trial in a burqa, Italian press reports said.

Monia Mzougi, 37, is to be tried under 1975 public order legislation barring people from wearing clothes that conceal their identity from security personnel "without a valid reason."

The trial is to begin next January 30 in Cremona, northern Italy, and Mzougi faces a maximum of two years in prison.

Mzougi's husband, Mourad Trabelsi, was tried in Cremona in September 2005 for being a member of a radical Islamist group that was plotting to attack the city's cathedral.

The leading daily Corriere della Sera reported that Mzougi's case is the first in Italy concerning the wearing of a burqa, which conceals the entire body including the face, with a narrow opening or netting for the eyes.

Source: Middle East Times (English)

See also: UK: Confusion over hijab

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