Fratelli d’Italia bill ‘against Islamic separatism’ would target face coverings and mosque funding.
Italian premier Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing Fratelli d’Italia (FdI) party on Wednesday presented a bill that would ban the wearing of full-face veils in public places, offices, schools and universities.
The bill “against Islamic separatism” also seeks to regulate the funding of mosques as well as impose stiffer penalties for arranged marriages and virginity tests.
Violation of the proposed full-face ban would be punishable by fines of between €300 to €3,000.
There is currently no timeline for debate of the bill which was presented to the lower house by FdI lawmakers including parliamentary leader Galeazzo Bignami and justice undersecretary Andrea Delmastro.
“It serves to counter the emergence of enclaves, counter-societies where Shari’a law, rather than the Italian legal system, applies, and where Islamic fundamentalism thrives,” explained FdI MP Sara Kelany, a co-signatory of the bill.
“Erasing a woman’s face means humiliating her. Some people talk about free choice, but I find it hard to believe a woman would want to humiliate herself” – Kelany said – “The left, blinded by ideological do-goodism and fearful of being accused of Islamophobia, on the one hand cries out about patriarchy, while on the other remains silent on these intolerable phenomena”.
Reaction
Imam Massimo Abdallah Cozzolino, leader of the Islamic cultural association Zayd Ibn Thabit, spoke to LaPresse in response to the proposed measures.
“Banning the full veil – which is not the same as banning the veil itself – could be part of a security policy. But legislation to this effect already exists, so I wonder what the actual utility of this proposal is, even though admittedly I don’t know the details,” he told LaPresse.
“I am not opposed to measures that protect public safety, but I oppose any initiative that risks undermining the religious identity of a community”, he said, noting: “Religious freedom guarantees everyone the right to express their faith, practices and symbols, provided they respect the laws and common values.”
Italy already has a law, dating back to 1975, that prohibits complete face covering in public places, newspaper Corriere della Sera reports.
While the legislation does not directly refer to the burqa, it effectively includes any garment or accessory that makes people unidentifiable.
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