Melbourne: A state in Australian has introduced a new law which would require Muslim women to remove burqa to prove their identity to the police. The new law has been incepted in Western Australia following public outcry over a case of Burqa-wearing woman Carnita Matthews, who had a conviction of knowingly making a false statement quashed.
Matthews was sentenced to six-month jail after she was found guilty of falsely accusing a senior constable of forcibly trying to remove her burqa when she was pulled over while driving in Woodbine in Sydney's southwest in June 2010. However, she was later acquitted on appeal after the prosecution could not prove she was the woman who signed the statement while wearing burqa.
State's Criminal Investigation (Identifying People) Amendment Bill will require "a person remove headwear or do other things to facilitate the officer being able to confirm a person's identity", the Australian Associated Press reported.
In addition to that officers will also get explicit powers to detain a person while they comply. It will apply to an item of clothing, hat, helmet, mask, sunglasses or "any other thing worn by a person that totally or partially covers the person's head".
"Having regard to that case, the government has taken action to ensure that similar injustices do not occur in Western Australia," Attorney-General Michael Mischin said adding "The amendments provide a explicit power... where the subject person refuses to remove an obstruction that is preventing the officer from being able to identify the person's face."
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