Prague, March 27 (CTK) – A foreign female student, whom a Prague secondary nursing school banned from wearing the Muslim veil covering her head and neck (hijab) during classes in 2013, has sued the school, her lawyer Radka Korbelova Dohnalova has told CTK.
The lawyer said a Prague district court will deal with the case.
Two Muslim girls left their school due to the ban on hijab in the Czech Republic in 2013. One was from Somalia and the other from Afghanistan.
Ombudsman Anna Sabatova supported the girls then and said the school discriminated against them indirectly.
The school argued that students must not have their heads covered in the classroom. Sabatova demanded that the school rules be changed as the hijab is a religious symbol. The school did not change the rules, but it gave the school director the right to grant exceptions for religious reasons.
This dispute provoked discussions about whether to let Muslim women wear coverings such as the hijab, niqab or even the burka in the Czech Republic.
Unlike Sabatova, Deputy Ombudsman Stanislav Krecek was against it. According to President Milos Zeman, the state should not allow Muslim coverings at schools and medical facilities because Islam is an aggressive religion. Zeman is known for his resolute opposition to Islam.
