A fine of 600 euros was required on Tuesday against a restaurateur from Hendaye (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) who had refused entry to her restaurant to a veiled woman on May 29.
Tried before the Bayonne court for “discrimination based on religion”, this 64-year-old woman, born in Spain but of French nationality, had demanded of a client, accompanied by her son on Mother’s Day, that she takes off her veil to enter her restaurant. In a video, filmed at the time of the facts by the son, the sexagenarian speaks of “prehistory”, evoking the outfit of the complainant.
“We felt like under-citizens”
“When I talk about prehistory, I’m talking about fascism, which I knew with Franco in Spain”, tried to explain the restorer at the bar. “I felt very humiliated, she hurt me a lot, now I always have this fear when I go to a restaurant”, testified for her part the repressed client. “We felt like under-citizens,” added his son.
This file, “we make it a matter of principle because it is this type of behavior that harms living together”, summarized their lawyer, Me Christophe Arcaute. The restaurateur’s lawyer, Me Jacques Tournaire, pleaded for release for his client, arguing for “conditional acceptance of entry to the restaurant”, namely removing a veil, and “not an outright refusal “.
“These are slanderous remarks, which have no place to be. If Madame had apologized, we would not be there, ”commented the prosecution.