PERTH, Australia, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- An Australian woman says she will abide by a judge's order that she remove her burqa when called to testify in a fraud trial in Perth.
A judge ruled the 36-year-old Muslim woman must remove her head covering when she is a witness in October in the case of a man charged with inflating the number of students in an Islamic school in order to get government grants, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported Thursday.
The judge agreed with attorneys for Anwar Sayed who contend a jury would not be able to evaluate the woman's testimony properly if her face is covered, the broadcasting service said.
"I am a proud, law-abiding Australian and I am not trying to change the Australian way of life. I am simply trying to live by my beliefs," the woman said.
