PARIS, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- The head of France's Union for a Popular Movement political party says France should have a law that fines women $1,000 for wearing burqas.
UMP head Jean-Francois Cope said he proposed legislation that would fine women who wear the head-to-toe covering used by some Muslim women out in public, the EUObserver reported Friday.
Cope said the proposed legislation "would prohibit the covering of the face in public places and on the streets, with the exception of special cultural events or carnivals."
Anyone who forces a woman to wear a burqa in public also would be fined under the proposed law.
"We can measure the modernity of a society by the way it treats and respects women," Cope offered.
Socialist Party spokesman Benoit Hamon questioned how effective Cope's proposal would be if it became law, the EUObserver reported.
"The burqa is a prison for women and has no place in the French Republic. But an ad-hoc law would not have the anticipated effect," Hamon said.
