Imam charged in Spain with threatening Muslim woman for not wearing an Islamic headscarf
By APThursday, January 28, 2010
Imam charged with threatening woman in Spain
MADRID — Prosecutors say charges have been filed against a Muslim imam accused of threatening a woman in northeastern Spain who refused to wear an Islamic headscarf.
The prosecutors are seeking a five-year jail sentence for Mohamed Benbrahim on charges of calumny, coercion and menacing behavior against Fatima Ghailan in Cunit, a town in Catalonia, a region with a sizable Muslim population.
The court filed similar charges against three others, including the imam’s wife and daughter.
Ghailan, a 31-year-old Muslim, says the accused urged Cunit’s mayor to remove Ghailan from her town hall job because she dresses in Western fashion and associates with non-Muslim Spaniards.
Prosecutors said Thursday the judge investigating the case found the woman’s account credible.
