Citing safety, KL courts ban veiling face

(MMO) – The Kuala Lumpur court has banned the purdah, or veils worn by Muslim women that leave only the eyes exposed, for safety reasons, citing a previous bomb threat at the Putrajaya courts.

Mohd Hirman Ab Raub, senior assistant registrar at the Kuala Lumpur court’s administration and enforcement division, said the purdah ban was to ensure that everyone could be identified clearly. “This is for safety purposes so that we know who enters the court,” Mohd Hirman told Malay Mail Online when met at the court complex here yesterday.

However, he also said the ban had been enforced for the past three to four years, even before a bomb threat was made at the Palace of Justice in Putrajaya ― the complex that also houses the Federal Court and Court of Appeal ― one and a half years ago. He added that the bomb threat at the Putrajaya courts turned out to be a hoax.

Bomb threats were also made at the Malaysian Bar’s extraordinary general meeting on the Sedition Act 1948 last September and at the Shah Alam court complex in 2013. Both turned out to be false. Mohd Hirman said today that the Kuala Lumpur court has yet to receive complaints on women wearing the purdah during open court sessions.

Read more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/citing-safety-kl-courts-ban-veiling-face