Covered woman in France sentenced to 6 months in prison

A Muslim woman speaks with a French gendarme during an identity control, on September 22, 2012 near the prefecture of Lille, northern France. AFP photo

A court in France's northern province of Lille sentenced a fully-covered 18-year-old woman to 6 months in prison on Oct.30 for refusing to present her identity card to police, reported AFP.

The woman, who wasn't identified in reports, refused to show her identity card to police, telling them she didn’t have time before attempting to escape. The woman kicked police officers who followed and eventually caught her.

The woman was convicted of willful violence, outrage, rebellion and incitement to riot and was issued a sentence two times longer than expected. The prosecutor had originally demanded a 3 month prison sentence.

"If she had shown her face she would have avoided beginning her career with an adult criminal record," said the prosecutor.

Covered women in France are legally required to show their faces and identify themselves as of Oct. 11, 2010, when a law prohibiting "the concealment of face in a public space" went into effect.

October/30/2012