IG Joseph Boinnet Wants Niqabs Banned in Court

Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet has written to the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary, Anne Amadi, expressing concern that suspects are allowed to wear Niqabs in court.

The niqab, a piece of clothing worn by Muslim women, poses a problem in identifying suspects because it covers the face. 

He was referring to an earlier case where terror suspect Halima Adan sent her sister to court to appear on her behalf in June.

Abdia Adan Ali was arrested by Anti Terror Police, after she appeared in court covered up in a niqab, trying to pass herself off as her sister.

In light of the above incident, there may be a need to come up with policy guidelines on how such matters should be dealt with by judicial officers to prevent subversion of justice and such future occurrences,” Boinnet wrote.

The Mombasa Chief Magistrate Evans Makori, who was handling the case, maintained that the suspect was present in court on the day in question.

In response, the Judiciary noted that the wearing of the attire should be guided by the trial court in order to find a middle ground between religious rights and subversion of justice.

“In the meantime, the wearing of the niqab veil by accused persons will be left to the stewardship of the trial court to balance between religious rights and the ends of justice on case by case basis,” Ms Amadi observed. 

Halima is currently out on a Sh500,000 bond. She is being investigated for conspiring to help three Kenyan women cross into Somalia to join terror group Al-Shabaab.

Judgement will be made on September 27, 2018.

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