Adamant muslim woman agrees to lift her veil

Despite showing her face, judge sided with man she said had abused her

A Muslim woman, Amira Behari, 43, who is at the centre of a German racism trial has finally agreed to lift her veil after much persuasion from the court. Behari had initially refused to remove her niqab to testify in a Munich court. She was however warned by Judge Mueller that if she does not change her position, she would face jail term.

This might have encouraged her to lift her face covering at a hearing against a woman who she claimed had abused her. To her dismay, she learnt that the judge had sided with the defendant. She had been attending court hearings to testify against a man who racially abused her. Behari claimed that she had been shouted at in the city's central train station, by the 59-year-old defendant identified only as Kai O. In her statement, she said the man shouted "you people are a***holes' at her, before adding 'you don't belong here"

She had told the Judge in November 2015 that she could not remove her veil because it is against her religious ethics. "I have a God at the end of the world who will see me right at the end. I will not do this." In court she wore a niqab - like a burka with only a gap for the eyes - as well as gloves and a long leather coat. Judge Mueller gave up and said he had no alternative but to find the accused not guilty.