Rome, Aug 3 (ANI): Italy is likely to join Belgium and France in banning the burqua as the country's parliamentary commission is set to approve a draft law banning women from wearing veils in public.
Italy's Constitutional Affairs Committee said that the bill that was initially suggested by the anti-immigration Northern League would be debated in September.
The proposal has the backing of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's ruling centre right coalition, the Daily Mail reports.
The draft law, which makes no mention of religion, would also ban the niqab, which covers the bottom part of the face only, and other head-covering garments 'of ethnic origin'.
Offenders will be fined between 150 and 300 Euros or will be given some kind of community service 'aimed at encouraging integration'.
Officials said that the legislation would also take into account people who 'force someone to wear a burqua or face veil using either physical or psychological violence'.
This offence would result in one-year imprisonment and a 30,000 Euro fine, the paper said.
The Northern League's proposal aims at amending a 1975 law, introduced amid concern over domestic terrorism, which bans anyone wearing anything that makes their identification difficult.
The only exceptions are for 'justified cause', which until now has been interpreted to include religious reasons in court rulings against local bans on the burqua. (ANI)
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