French parliament endorses burqa ban in public
10:52, 15 September 2010
PARIS. September 15. KAZINFORM The French parliament finally passed Tuesday a bill to prevent women from wearing face-to-toe veil covering whole body in public spaces across the country; Kazinform refers to Xinhua.
French Senate voted 246 to one to approve the burqa ban bill. France now reside 5 million Muslims, ranking as the largest Islamic community in European Union.
Women who violate the ban and insist putting full-face-covering veil in administrations, hospitals and parks risk to be fined 150 euros (about 195 U.S. dollars) or take citizenship lessons, while any man convicted of forcing their wives to wear the burqa will have to pay a 30,000-euro-fine and face jail term up to one year.
According to figures from the Interior Ministry, some 1,900 Muslim women are wearing the burqa across France; Kazinform cites Xinhua.
See www.xinhuanet.com/english2010 for full version