Magistrates in the city of Leicester in England ordered a pregnant Muslim woman to remove her veil while she gave evidence against her violent ex-partner。

　　The case at Leicester Magistrates Court on Thursday was held up for over an hour while magistrates agreed to hear her evidence from behind a screen. One of the magistrates told her: "We need to see a person's facial expressions to assess the evidence they are giving." Georgina Richards, 36, initially refused for religious reasons but reluctantly agreed when she was told that her evidence would possibly not be accepted if her "facial expressions" were not visible。

　　But after the hearing, she said: "I was a bit unhappy that he told me to take my veil off. But I thought the case would be dropped if I didn't take it off. It just made me feel uncomfortable. They wanted to see the expression on my face but I don't think it really matters, I think I could have done it with my veil on."

　　The magistrates heard that her husband attacked Miss Richards, mother to three of the couple's children and eight months pregnant with their fourth, between April 1 and April 30. He was found guilty of punching Miss Richards in the face and scrawling abuse on her front door。

　　The magistrates warned the husband was facing jail and sentencing was deferred until October 20 to allow a probation report to be produced。

　　The wearing of Islamic dress has become increasingly controversial in recent years。

　　Jack Straw, a former home secretary, foreign secretary and justice secretary, was criticised in 2006 after requesting that women lift their veil at his surgeries in his Blackburn constituency。

　　据英国每日电讯报8日报道，英国莱斯特城的法官为看清陈述人表情，要求一名怀孕的穆斯林妇女在提供受前夫暴力侵害证据时摘掉面纱。

　　这起案件于上周四在莱斯特裁判法院开庭审理。当进行到一个多小时后，法官同意该妇女在隔着屏幕讲述证词。一位法官要求她摘掉面纱以便看清其提供证据时的面部表情。但是36岁的理查德-乔伊娜，以宗教原因拒绝了。后来当听到法官称如不能看到她的面部表情，将不取信于她的证据时。理查德女士才勉强答应。

　　当法官听完证词后，理查德女士表示，“当他要求我摘掉面纱时，我有些不高兴。但是我的不服从可能会导致案件的败诉。这使我感觉不舒服。我觉得看不看到面部表情无所谓，我可以带着面纱提供证据。”

　　理查德女士现在怀孕八个月，与其丈夫生有三个孩子。在四月份，他的丈夫经常打她，包括殴打她脸部以及在她的门前乱写脏话。

　　法官警告其丈夫将面临牢狱之灾。但是由于要出份鉴定报告，执行日期被迫拖延至10月20日。

　　近年来，穿着传统伊斯兰服装不断地引起争议。

　　杰克-斯特劳(英国国会下院领袖、前外交大臣)曾因在2006年在布莱克本(英国国会选区)要求穆斯林妇女摘掉面纱而招来非议。