Swedish legislator aims to pass bill banning headscarves in police force

By Alexandra Enberg

IZMIR, Türkiye (AA) - A prominent politician in Sweden is pushing for the passage of a bill that would ban headscarves in the Swedish police force.

The proposed law may also be extended to all public employees, Richard Jomshof, the chairman of parliament’s Justice Committee, said Monday.

He now hopes that the coalition of four right-wing parties established earlier this year under the Tido Agreement can get the bill passed.

In an interview with the local Expressen newspaper, Jomshof said the whole point of wearing a uniform in the police force or the military for that matter is that it should be uniform. He said if you allow religious or political symbols, it is no longer a uniform, and it would be absurd to allow such things.

“If you see political symbols or a religious attribute, then you don't just see a police officer, you see something else that the police officer also stands for. Then you can also question whether the police are objective in their practice. We should not get into that kind of discussion.

“I believe that the police also when this topic was up for discussion mentioned an example: What happens if a police officer wearing a kippa is going to intervene in a Muslim area? Then it will cause huge problems," Jomshof added.

In August this year, Fredrik Kärrholm from the Moderate Party wrote an opinion piece raising the same question in the Svenska Dagbladet newspaper.