Belgium: Woman fined $300 for wearing burka

A Belgian Muslim woman was ordered to pay 200 euros ($300) for wearing a burka, a Islamic outfit that covers everything but the eyes, in a public place, the La Capital paper reported on Thursday. The woman was detained while taking her children to an Islamic school in the Etterbeek municipality of the Belgian capital, Brussels. She was initially ordered to pay a 35-euro fine for violating a local ban on covering faces in public places.

When the woman was caught wearing the outfit the second time, she was fined 200 euros, but refused to pay and went to court.

"The rule is the rule, and we must obey it," local mayor Vincent De Wolf said.

The Belgium Muslim community ranges from 400,000 to 600,000 people.

BRUSSELS, December 10 (RIA Novosti)