A Quebec judge told the single mother that she was “not suitably dressed” for court.
A Quebec judge told Rania El-Alloul that she would not hear her case in a Montreal courtroom unless she removed her hijab, CBC News reported.
CBC News / Via youtube.com
El-Alloul, a single mother of three boys, told CBC News that the first question Judge Eliana Marengo asked her in court was, "why are you putting this scarf on your head?" El-Alloul said she told the judge that she was a Muslim.
In a court recording obtained by CBC News, the judge told El-Alloul: "In my opinion, the courtroom is a secular place and secular space. There are no religious symbols in this room, not on the walls and not on the persons."
Marengo cited a Quebec court regulation which states that a person in court must be "suitably dressed" and told El-Alloul she was not.
"I will therefore not hear you if you are wearing a headscarf on your head just as I would not allow a person to appear before me wearing a hat or sunglasses on his or her head..." the judge told El-Alloul.
CBC News / Via youtube.com
El-Alloul was in court to make a request to get her car back after police seized it from one of her sons, who was allegedly driving with a suspended license.
The judge took a 30 minute recess after which she gave gave El-Alloul two options: remove her hijab or apply for a postponement order to consult a lawyer.
El-Alloul responded that she could not remove her scarf which she had been wearing for many years.
When Marengo offered to suspend the case until El-Alloul found a lawyer, the single mother said she could not afford one.
"I'm on welfare by the way," El-Alloul said. "I'm separated. I'm living with three boys. I'm facing many problems."
Marengo replied: "I know that, but that's not what I'm talking about."