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€750 fine proposed for wearing burqa
UMP party hopes law banning full Muslim dress in public will be passed by the autumn
WOMEN who wear full Muslim dress in public could be fined €750 under a proposed new law.
Jean-François Copé, the president of the UMP group in the National Assembly, will be putting forward the bill in parliament later this month.
He hopes the law will be debated before the regional elections in March and will come into force by the autumn.
In an interview with Le Figaro Magazine to appear on Saturday, Mr Copé says: "Wearing a burqa will be considered an offence with a fine of €750."
He says the law will ban anyone from "completely covering their face in public, with certain exceptions for cultural events and carnivals".
Mr Copé is also proposing a bigger fine for anyone found to have forced a woman to wear a burqa.
According to the Interior Ministry, about 2,000 women in France wear full Muslim dress in public. In July last year, the police security agency DCRI published its own data claiming only 367 women did.
MPs from left and right wings of the National Assembly have called for the head-to-toe garment to be banned.
However Socialist Party spokesman Benoît Hamon said the group was against the proposed law - but some of the party's representatives, including Moselle MP Aurélie Filippetti, said it was "premature" to rule out a ban at this early stage.
