A Perth judge has ruled that a Muslim woman must remove her niqab while giving evidence in a fraud trial.
Judge Shauna Deane delivered her decision in the District Court today, saying it only applied to the case in question and did not set a precedent.
Prosecution witness Tasneem, 36, who does not wish her surname to be published, has worn the burqa since the age of 17 and wanted to wear it while giving evidence.
The fraud trial of former Muslim school director Anwar Sayed is due to resume with a new jury in October.
Sayed is accused of fraudulently obtaining up to $752,000 in state and federal grants by falsifying roll numbers for the Muslim Ladies College of Australia in Kenwick, south of Perth, in 2006.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
The defence had raised concerns about how the jury could be expected to read the woman's facial expressions if they could not see her face.
The first jury in the case was discharged after the estimated time for the trial blew out from 10 days to five weeks, causing attendance problems for five jurors.
On August 6 Sayed was allegedly attacked as he drove to his solicitor's office in Perth and was treated in hospital for minor injuries.
In court the day before, Sayed's lawyer Mark Trowell said his client had received death threats via phone calls and handwritten notes over the burqa issue.
Sayed was at court on Thursday and told reporters outside that he was "much better".
