A
uniformed
surveillance
officer
in
charge
of
circulation
in the
capital
provoked
tensions
by
continuing
to go
into
work
wearing
her
veil.
Paris –
A female
surveillance
office
for the
Paris
police
who was
suspended
for
wearing
the
Islamic
veil on
duty,
will
face a
disciplinary
committee,
sources
close to
the
investigation
told AFP
Wednesday.
In
November
2009 the
Paris
prefecture
of
police
suspended
Nora B,
who will
appear
before
the
committee
on
Thursday,
for
contravening
her
neutrality
obligations
while on
duty.
Nora B,
a
uniformed
surveillance
officer
in
charge
of
circulation
in the
capital,
refused
to sign
the
suspension
order
and
"provoked
tensions"
by
continuing
to go
into
work
wearing
her
veil.
The
French
interior
ministry
told AFP
the
"decision"
had been
taken by
the
Paris
prefecture,
"using
its
powers
as
municipal
police"
in the
capital.
Nora B
faced a
similar
procedure
in 2004
but
agreed
to
remove
her veil
after
meeting
with the
police
prefect
at the
time,
Jean-Paul
Proust.
France's
secular
charter
from
2007
asks
civil
servants
not to
display
their
religious
beliefs
while on
duty.
The case
comes in
the
midst of
a
national
debate
over
what it
means to
be
French,
with the
government
seeking
to
legislate
for a
ban on
the
head-to-toe
burqa on
the
grounds
that it
is
incompatible
with
French
values.
A recent
survey
showed
57
percent
of
French
people
were in
favour
of a law
banning
the full
veil,
and a
parliament
report
has
suggested
it be
outlawed
in
schools,
hospitals,
government
offices
and
public
transport.
