Human rights appeal expected to follow veil fine
Hind Ahmas said she would also appeal her sentence in a French court with the backing of French businessman Rachid Nekkaz, who has pledged to pay all fines imposed on burqa wearers under the ban. A second woman, Najate Naitali, was fined €80 in absentia by the court in Meaux, in the first court sentencing over a breach of the burqa ban.
The two had turned up at Meaux town hall in May, wearing burqas, to offer an almond birthday cake to Jean-Francois Cope, head of the UMP party. The gesture was not without humour: in French, “almond” sounds like “fine”.