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| | “I do not think any other Muslim woman should be treated like this," a furious Ali said. | CAIRO — A New Zealand Muslim woman was denied access to a courtroom because the judge refused to let her in with her hijab, the New Zealand Herald reported on Wednesday, September 02. "It is disgusting behavior and I should not be treated like this,” hijab-clad Yasmeen Ali said. Ali, from Hastings District in the Hawke's Bay Region, was denied access on Tuesday to the courtroom in Hastings District Court, where she came to support her brother who was being sentenced. When she first entered the courtroom she was asked to take off her hijab by a court security officer but refused, stating she had to wear one as she was a Muslim. She sat briefly in courtroom’s public gallery before the morning break when she stayed outside for 15 minutes. But as she attempted to re-enter, a court security guard blocked her path back and told her that the presiding judge, Judge Geoff Rea, ordered that she has to remove her headscarf first. He told her that barring her was based on a court rule prohibiting the wearing of "hats". Ali then pointed to a sign on the courtroom door and asked, “It says there that you can't wear a hat, hoods but where does it say no headscarf?'' She later asked to see a court official and was taken to Support Services manager, complaining she had been discriminated against. “He said, ‘Oh there is not much I can do sorry'.” Islam sees hijab as an obligatory code of dress, not a religious symbol displaying one’s affiliations. Lawsuit The New Zealand government backed the judge’s treatment of the Muslim woman. “The presiding judge has jurisdiction over proceedings in the courtroom. The ministry does not comment on judicial decisions,'' a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman said. But a furious Ali, however, plans to lodge a complaint with her incident with New Zealand’s Human Rights Commission. She hopes her case would prevent a repeat occurrence of her mistreatment. “I do not think any other Muslim woman should be treated like this," she said. Her stance was supported by New Zealand’s biggest opposition party Labour Party ethnic affairs spokesman Chris Carter slammed the judge for his lack of understanding of modern New Zealand's cultural diversity. "Understanding and respecting different beliefs is an important element in making every Kiwi feel they are a valued and equal citizen of New Zealand." The south-pacific island country is home to 36,000 Muslims, according to the 2006 census. | 
