The 24-year-old university graduate has requested anonymity because of concern over the reaction to her lawsuit in France, where the law banning full-face veils in public spaces was approved in 2010 under former president Nicolas Sarkozy and has been fully backed by the current Socialist government.
The woman, identified only by her initials S.A.S., and her British legal team are seeking to persuade the European Court of Human Rights to categorize the French law as essentially discriminatory.
The defendant — who also has family in Britain’s second city of Birmingham — argues that the ban violates her rights to freedom of religion, expression and assembly, and is also discriminatory.
She is a “perfect French citizen with university education,” her British lawyer Tony Muman told the European court at a hearing last year. “She speaks of her country with passion... She is a patriot,” Muman had said. » | Yann Ollivier | AFP | Monday, June 30, 2014
