The District Administrative Court of Kyiv dismissed the claim of 25-year Bakhchisaray resident Ms Susanna Ismailova against the order № 600 of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, which bans to paste the photo in hijab to the main identity-proving document. As Vozrozhdeniye periodical writes, a hearing was held on June, 4 this year.
“Currently, the issue is not about the non-conformity of some points of order № 600. The question is about its illegality. The document was not brought to public in violation of Article 57 of the Constitution and violation of the presidential decree signed by then President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma “Of the order of the official publication of regulations and their coming into force”. In violation of this decree, which has the force of the law, it may be considered illegal”, - the legal expert and Susanna Ismailova’s representative in the court Enver Umerov says.
In the course of the trial, the court has decided that Susanna Ismailova’s rights were not infringed.
Meanwhile, S. Ismailova has stated that she would not stop at what has been accomplished: “I shall not be photographed under “militia’s rule” as it contradicts my religious beliefs”.
As her lawyer Enver Umerov has reported, presently he is preparing an appeal against the court’s decision. The court h as already been informed about it in a telegram. According to E. Umerov, they have not yet received the full text of the court’s decision. They were only informed about the claim dismissal and about the fact that “the Muslim women’s rights are not infringed”.
“I wonder what they would say to motivate their refusal: as in fact it turns out that the departmental order is superior to the law. We shall fight on. We shall appeal to the European Court if there is a need”, says the lawyer.
As it was previously reported, a law suit on was held in the District Administrative Court of Kyiv. 25-year-old Susanna Ismailova from Bakhchisaray is at law with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for the right to paste the photo in hijab (traditional Muslim clothing) to the main document. The Bakhchisaray Passport Office has denied Ms. Susanna the right to paste the second photo in hijab to the passport on reaching 25 years old.
“I have been wearing hijab for 10 years as it is appointed by Qu’ran, - Susanna told. – I would feel uncomfortable without it. People could hardly recognize me. It is the same if a person who is wearing spectacles will not wear them anymore. But in this case such people are not committed to put their spectacles off for the passport. Only face and hands can be opened at Muslim women. This is the way of our life, and we should have such right in a democratic country”.
Enver Umerov received about 900 applications from other Muslim women of Crimea, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kyiv, Kharkiv and Luhansk who are eager to join this suit. Positive experience with similar issues in Russia and many other Europian countries gives hope to them that Ukraine will set a precedent.
Reference: The word “hijab” means Muslim women’s clothing (sometimes only headscarf is called so).
By QHA
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