Australian woman to appeal jailing over burqa incident

Nov 19, 2010, 4:53 GMT

Sydney - An Australian Muslim said Friday she would appeal the six-month jail sentence handed to her for falsely accusing a Sydney police officer of trying to pull off her burqa to verify that she held a driving licence.

Carnita Matthews, 46, was stopped in June for a random breath test and issued with a ticket for a minor traffic offence.

The mother-of-seven later filed a complaint alleging the officer manhandled her.

In video evidence presented to the court, Matthews called the officer a racist for asking her to show her face to see if it matched that in the photograph on her driving licence.

'You look at me and see me wearing this and you couldn't handle it,' Matthews said. 'All cops are racist.'

In court, her lawyer had argued that the charge should be dropped because the head-to-toe burqa meant there was no way police could be absolutely sure that Matthews was the woman who had made a formal complaint at the police station.

The magistrate, who described her complaint as 'deliberate and malicious,' granted bail pending the appeal.

The case has been keenly watched because of a hot debate about whether Australia should follow some European countries and ban the burqa in public places.

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