Yes, it is justified. France is a secular country where religion is to be practiced in privacy. It's the law since 1905. Wearing a burqa or a niqab everywhere is clearly an attempt to express you religious belief in public places.

In addition, this new law does not ban the religious Muslim veil specifically. The ban is on anything which may fully cover one's face making it impossible for them to be identified. Hence, burqa, niqab and military-like full face hoods are banned. People fully covering their faces will not only be brought to the police station for identification, but will also have to pay a 150 €uro fine.

Going back on the article, it should be clearly stated that the arrested people were only arrested because their protestation was not official. In France, you can protest as much as you'd like, but you must "declare" it first at the town hall.

Xionbox (talk)06:14, 14 April 2011