France ban the burka - Sound on

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Approximately two women were detained in France while they had been

wearing the Islamic veils across their faces, after a law banning the

garment in public had came into force.

Police stated that they had only been held not because of their veils

but because of joining an unauthorised protest against the ban.

France is the first country to ban the wearing of the burqa

which many Muslims regard as a religious farz (duty).

Anyone who are caught breaking the law will be held responsible 

to a pay the fine of 150 euros and a citizenship course.

People who are forcing the women to wear the veil face a much larger

fine and also face a prison sentence of at least two years.

It is unclear whether the women who are detained at the protest will also

face a fine for their veils.

They were taken part in a demonstration just outside the Paris'

Notre Dame cathedral. Police had reported that the protest 

was not authorised and so people had been asked to move on.

When they had refused, they had been arrested.

Under the law, any woman who are walking on the street or in a park

in France and are wearing a face-concealing veil could be stopped

by the police and then given a fine.

Guidelines issued to the police state that they must not ask the women

to remove their veils in the street, but must escort them to 

a police station where they will be asked to uncover their faces for identification.

The French government stated that the face-covering veil undermines

the basic standards which is required for living in a shared society and

also it relegates the wearers to an inferior status who are incompatible

with the French notions of equality.

The ban on face coverings had angered many Muslims and libertarians.