Austrian burqa ban confuses cops
Man in shark costume held for covering face
Vienna: Austria's new ban on fullface veils made international headlines when police recently fined a shark mascot who was promoting an electronics chain in Vienna.
While the incident appeared to highlight the absurdity of the ban that came into effect one month ago, it turned out to be a marketing stunt by a public relations firm that hatched the idea of calling police to the opening of the electronics shop.
“50 million online viewer contacts/150-euro (RM738.50) fine”, the PRagency Warda Network wrote afterwards on Facebook, rejoicing at the maximum return on its relatively modest investment.
As police have tried to implement the ban, they have become tied up in the provisions and interpretations of a law that is mainly meant to prohibit burqas and niqabs, as a way to curb extremist tendencies and restrictive gender roles.
The law forbids fully covered faces in public, while making exceptions for people who wear masks as part of their job or for traditional festivities – even if they do so in a slightly provocative manner.
Vienna's popular Grelle Forelle music club, for example, has advertised its Halloween dress code as “burqa + vinyl & leather”.
“No one needs to fear punishment,” Vienna police spokesman Harald Soeroes said on Tuesday.
Despite legal loopholes for actors and revellers, a well-known trio of Vienna street musicians have already had a run-in with police.
The three accordion players were approached by officers, who informed them that their trademark horse masks are legal only as long as they play, but that they would have to take them off after their performance.
Diligent officers have even enforced the law on the premises of Austria's Parliament.
In early October, police stopped the shooting of a promotional film in front of the Parliament building in order to check the identity of an actor inside a light-blue, bespectacled rabbit costume of Lesko, the legislature's official mascot.
Soeroes pointed out that most of these incidents were not initiated by zealous officers, but rather by citizens.
“There were persons who called the police emergency number to report that someone is veiled,” he said, adding that officers are obliged to investigate the situation in such cases.