Hind Ahmas, a 32-year-old French mother, is facing two years in prison and a $42,000 fine because she refuses to accept the government’s new ban on wearing the burqa or niqab in public. Ahmas was banned from her own trial yesterday because she wouldn’t remove her veil, and during the proceeding she was ordered to spend 15 days learning about her civic duties. She responded, “There is no possibility of me removing the veil … I’m not taking it off. The judge needs citizenship lessons, not me.” Ahmas is expected to become the first woman sentenced to jail under the ban, and she plans to bring her case before the European Court of Human Rights.
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