Radio Islam News Team- 05/02/2016

Judicial institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina have ruled that women employed in judicial institutions can no longer wear the hijab to work – a move that’s sparked anger among Muslim leaders.

Muslim leaders and Bosnian politicians have reacted angrily after the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council, which oversees much of the country’s judiciary, told judicial institutions workers are not allowed to wear religious symbols such as the Muslim hijab.

Independent journalist Mersiha Gadzo spoke to Radio Islam’s Mufti Yusuf Moosagie on Your World Today – where she said that the new rule is a big problem for woman who wear the hijab and work in courts around the country.

“It’s been met with a huge backlash here in the media and among residents and the Islamic community”.

The new rule will apply to courts in Bosnia, so for other workplaces, the law is not applied.

“The new decision states that hijabs are no longer allowed in courts and this is for people who are employed there, and as well as for a third party, such as witnesses who participate in the hearings” said Gadzo.

The leader of Bosnia’s Islamic Community, Husein Kavazovic, reacted angrily to the rule, which has been depicted as an attack on Muslim women who wear the veil or hijab.

“It’s a racist and illegal measure,” Kavazovic said in a letter.

The country’s Law on Religious Freedom still upholds people’s right to practice their faith in public places.

Gadzo added that; “Maybe they don’t know that the hijab isn’t something that a woman can just take on and off whenever she enters the courtroom, it’s part of her identity, it’s who she is, it’s not a religious symbol as the council said”.

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