Confusion in German Courts re: Muslim Scarves; Not in Canada

‘No religious symbols’: Muslim woman banned from wearing headscarf in German court

© Axel Heimken / Reuters

A German court has told a Syrian woman that she must take off her headscarf to appear in court for divorce proceedings against her husband.

According to a report in Tagesspiegel, the woman, who arrived in Germany as a refugee, sought a divorce from her husband before a magistrate in Luckenwalde in the state of Brandenburg.

Before the hearing, however, the presiding judge sent a letter to the woman’s lawyer informing her that she would not be allowed wear a headscarf during the court case.

“Religiously motivated statements, such as the wearing of a headscarf, will not be allowed,” the letter reportedly reads.

The letter outlined that the woman, who is Muslim, could face sanctions if she wears the traditional headgear at the proceedings, which she was ordered to attend.

Officials in German courts are required to be religiously neutral and are not allowed to wear religious symbols, however, the same requirement doesn’t apply to civilians. The woman’s lawyer has labelled the decision unconstitutional.

Defence lawyers are also not bound by rules on religious neutrality, and may wear a headscarf or other symbols of religion.

Tagesspiegel notes that in 2006 Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court ruled that a judge cannot expel a spectator from a court proceeding because they are wearing a headscarf.

The court in Luckenwalde defended the decision, telling Tagesspiegel that the judge “is responsible for ensuring rules are adhered to in the courtroom, where religious symbols have no place.”

Last month the state of Berlin was ordered to pay a Muslim teacher €6,900 after she was rejected from a job because her hijab contravened a German law restricting religious symbols in the workplace.

German courts have held other similar proceedings this year, challenging the workplace neutrality law.

No issue in Canada, however, a woman (in green) charged with terrorism was allowed to appear in a Toronto court in full burka with only her eyes visible. She did this twice. On the first occasion she proclaimed allegiance to ISIS. Canada's neo-liberal experiment is completely out of control.

Muslim Woman in Full Hijab Charged with 14 Terrorism Charges in Toronto

I would like to know why a judge would allow an accused terrorist to be in his courtroom wearing a full-face veil? It's absurd! Obviously, CBC doesn't have an issue with it.

14 terrorism charges laid against woman for threatening

Canadian Tire employees with knife

Rehab Dughmosh, 32, pledged allegiance to ISIS

in a Toronto court last month

By Shanifa Nasser, CBC News 

A woman accused of assault and threatening people with a knife in a Canadian Tire store in Scarborough, Ont., appeared in court on Tuesday. This sketch made June 6 shows, left to right: the accused Rehab Dughmosh, an Arabic interpreter, Justice of the Peace Alice Napier, and Crown attorney Candice Suter. (Pam Davies/CBC)

A woman accused of threatening employees at a Canadian Tire store in Toronto with a knife last month is now charged with terrorism-related offences, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police say.

Rehab Dughmosh, 32, had previously been charged with two counts of assault with a weapon, assault, uttering threats, carrying a concealed weapon, and two counts of possession of a weapon.

Dughmosh now faces 14 terror-related charges under Section 83.2 of the Criminal Code, federal Crown prosecutor Howard Piafsky told CBC News. The section bans "terrorist activity," whether it takes place "in or outside Canada."

Most of those charges mirror the woman's earlier charges, Piafsky said, but those actions are now alleged to have been undertaken "for the benefit of, at the direction of or in association with a terrorist group." 

The charges laid Tuesday include one of participating in terrorist activity. 

That charge relates to Dughmosh allegedly travelling to Turkey and attempting to enter Syria in April 2016.

Last month, Dughmosh appeared in a Toronto court where she pledged her allegiance to ISIS.

"I am pledged to the leaders of the believers, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi," Dughmosh said in reference to the leader of the Islamic State.

When police arrived at the Cedarbrae Mall store last month, they were told a woman had threatened employees and a customer in the paint section with a golf club and a knife. One of the employees was injured, but the injuries were non-life-threatening, Toronto police said.

Asked Tuesday why Dughmosh would not have been able to plead guilty today, Piafsky replied:

"Before she pleads guilty, she has to make an informed choice and part of that would involve being provided with some disclosure and being able to look at it and review it."

He would not confirm whether a mental health assessment will take place. 

Dughmosh continues to refuse legal counsel.

There can be little doubt that the woman is suffering from some form of mental illness. The question is which came first, the mental illness or the radicalization? There's a quote on my other blog (sidebar) that explains this: 

“I came to the absolute conviction that it is impossible…impossible…for any human being to read the biography of Mohammed and believe in it, and then emerge a psychologically and mentally healthy person.” 

- Syrian Psychiatrist Dr. Wafa Sultan

Her next court appearance is scheduled for July 21 at 10 a.m.

Scarborough, Ontario