RFE/RL - 03.06.2003

 

 

 

 

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS BAN ON HEADSCARVES IN DOCUMENT PHOTOS

The Supreme Court on 4 March rejected an appeal by 10 Muslim women from Tatarstan who asked the court to overturn a Tatarstan Interior Ministry ban on wearing headscarves in photographs for their domestic passports and other official documents, newsru.com and other Russian news agencies reported. The women argued that the ban on headscarves violates their constitutional right to freedom of conscience, and they asked the Supreme Court to overturn rulings by a municipal court in Kazan and the Supreme Court of Tatarstan that upheld the Interior Ministry's ban (see "RFE/RL Newsline," 26 August 2002). Union of Tatarstan Muslim Women Chairwoman Almira Adiatulina said the Koran forbids Muslim women from appearing in front of strange men with their heads bared. In its ruling, the Supreme Cfourt said that the Russian Federation "is a secular state that cannot give preference to any religious norm over other confessions." "The Koran is not a source of law" in Russia, said a Justice Ministry spokeswoman. Adiatulina said her organization will take its appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.