Italy fines Muslim woman over veil
Police fine woman $650 for wearing face-covering veil in public.
The Tunisian-born woman received the fine after being stopped outside a post office on Monday, while she was with her husband.
She is believed to have been wearing the niqab, a veil that covers all of the face apart from the eyes.
When the husband refused to have his wife identified by male officers, the police called in a patrol including a female officer.
Franzinelli said the woman had the right to appeal the fine.
Novara, which lies in Italy’s northeastern Piedmont region, is a stronghold of the Northern League, an anti-immigration party that is also allied with the country’s conservative government.
The fine comes less than a week after a Belgian parliamentary committee voted to ban face-covering Islamic veils in public.
France is also considering whether to adopt a similar law.