<p>The new law would also prohibit anyone from covering their faces with a motorcycle helmet or any material of “ethnic origins”.<br /><br />Souad Sbai, a Moroccan-born member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s ruling People of Freedom Party (PDL) pushed for the law to be drafted.<br /><br />The draft was adopted following support from the government’s coalition party, the Northern League while other parliamentary groups mainly abstained from the vote. Italy’s main opposition party the Democratic Party (PD) on the other hand, voted against the draft.<br />Those who breached the law would be fined, with penalties ranging that could go up to 30,000 euros ($42,000) while third parties who force women to cover their faces in public could be sentenced to 12 months in jail.<br /><br />Explaining her support for the law, Sbai said she hoped the legislation would defend “women without rights who are forced into segregation.” “In France, Belgium and even Muslim Azerbaijan, this law has become reality without any Arabic or Muslim women protesting, which just goes to show how much it is expected,” she added.<br /><br />The preliminary approval was welcomed by lawmaker Barbara Saltamartini, vice president of the Freedom People party caucus in the lower house. <br /><br />Italy is the latest European state to act against the burka and followed on the footstep of France and Belgium, which have both have banned people from wearing of burqa-style Islamic dress in public.<br /></p>
<p>The new law would also prohibit anyone from covering their faces with a motorcycle helmet or any material of “ethnic origins”.<br /><br />Souad Sbai, a Moroccan-born member of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s ruling People of Freedom Party (PDL) pushed for the law to be drafted.<br /><br />The draft was adopted following support from the government’s coalition party, the Northern League while other parliamentary groups mainly abstained from the vote. Italy’s main opposition party the Democratic Party (PD) on the other hand, voted against the draft.<br />Those who breached the law would be fined, with penalties ranging that could go up to 30,000 euros ($42,000) while third parties who force women to cover their faces in public could be sentenced to 12 months in jail.<br /><br />Explaining her support for the law, Sbai said she hoped the legislation would defend “women without rights who are forced into segregation.” “In France, Belgium and even Muslim Azerbaijan, this law has become reality without any Arabic or Muslim women protesting, which just goes to show how much it is expected,” she added.<br /><br />The preliminary approval was welcomed by lawmaker Barbara Saltamartini, vice president of the Freedom People party caucus in the lower house. <br /><br />Italy is the latest European state to act against the burka and followed on the footstep of France and Belgium, which have both have banned people from wearing of burqa-style Islamic dress in public.<br /></p>