‘I will always assist these Muslim women in order to neutralize these unjust laws and to guarantee the freedom of clothing of these harmless women by paying all the fines that they receive while wearing their niqab on the street,’ says Algerian businessman and political activist Rachid Nekkaz
European countries are following an “Islamophobic trend” through their support for laws that are “inherently” discriminatory to Muslim women by targeting their freedom to wear what they want, says Algerian businessman and political activist Rachid Nekkaz who was thrust into the spotlight after vowing to pay the fines of women wearing the niqab in Denmark.
Nekkaz is determined to support women’s right to wear what they want, and has publically supported their choice to not wear the veil in countries such as Sudan and Iran.
France as well as Belgium, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark and the German state of Bavaria have all imposed some curbs on face veils in public. Women wearing full-face veils in Denmark are subject to fines and can face up to seven days in jail in the country.
Supporting human rights in 18 countries through his organization, Nekkaz, whose American wife does not wear the veil, has so far paid 1552 fines totaling 315,000 euros in several European countries.
I am the president of the "Hassiba Human Rights League", which defends civil liberties in Algeria and all over the world. Thanks to my financial independence, I have the means to pay the fines of human rights activists accused by the Algerian justice system, the fines against women freely wearing a niqab in Europe, and the fines against women refusing to wear the veil in Iran.
I renounced my French nationality in 2013 because I could no longer stand for the French government's divisive, discriminatory and freedom-killing policies which systematically single out Muslim women with their unjust laws. France does not appreciate the success of those who oppose its laws. It doesn't like being ridiculed by a modern and legalist Muslim citizen like me. It fights them (me) in any legal or tendentious way possible. France has done everything possible to discredit me in the eyes of national and international public opinion: unfair tax audits, outright defamation campaigns through the press, a media boycott, a series of accusations and trials in courts, and even my registration onto their "S-file," the terrorist watch-list. In France, this "S-File" lists all persons who may "disrupt the security of the state". But, thanks to God, I have always resisted against these French pressures and intimidation campaigns worthy of a dictatorship.
I am neither an imam nor a theologist. I am a universal human rights activist, who takes the philosophy and history courses that I followed at the Sorbonne University in Paris very seriously. Loyal to the teachings of the great philosopher Voltaire, I am a supporter of the freedom to wear a niqab in Europe, even if I am personally opposed to it. But I also defend the freedom not to wear the veil in Sudan and in Iran. I was in Tehran, Iran on March 8th, 2018 to facilitate the release of 29 women who were jailed for removing their veil in a public space. I thank the Iranian authorities for having released them during my stay, which was on International Women's Day.
What do you think about Islamophobia especially in France and Europe? Is it possible to turn the tide back? What should be done for that to happen?
France today is no longer that of the 1980s. It has become allergic to Islam and to Muslim women. Islamophobia has become the religion of State of France. Unfortunately, since 2010, other European countries have followed this Islamophobic trend, by voting in turn for these laws which are inherently discriminatory against Muslim women: Belgium, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, Bulgaria, Germany and Denmark. I've had to intervene personally in all these countries to communicate clearly to them that I will always assist these Muslim women in order to neutralize these unjust laws and to guarantee the freedom of clothing of these harmless women by paying all the fines that they receive while wearing their niqab on the street.
Since 2010, I have paid 1552 fines totaling 315,000 euros including legal expenses in these European countries. This concerns 817 European women of whom 66 percent are native, white Europeans converted to Islam.
I believe that the governments of Europe are starting to renew their 17th century totalitarian attitudes, when the Catholic states slaughtered the Protestants because of their "dissident" religion. Today, these same states are making true mistakes, believing that we can reduce or limit public freedoms by simply imposing fines. With the fund that I set up in 2010, I demonstrated that one single, determined individual could effectively, pacifically and legally combat the freedom-killing laws made by eight European countries. In reaction, France had voted a law against me personally in order to throw me in prison for 6 months with a €45,000 fine, if I continued to pay the fines. I therefore adapted my strategy by granting these women 181€ no-interest, 20-year loans, in order to continue to pay the fines for women who choose to wear a niqab in the streets. Even Belgium, who has planned for €127 fines and a 7-day prison sentence, has ceased to fine women who wear a niqab, because of the bad publicity that my payment of the fines has brought to their country. Denmark, who threatened two-week prison terms for women who wear the niqab in the streets, also risks being ridiculed around the world. Worst, on my trip to Copenhagen next September 11th to pay the fines, the whole world will discover that Denmark has become a totalitarian state, like Saudi Arabia. These two monarchies share a common factor: they imprison women because of their clothing choices.
I created a political party, called the youth and change movement (MJC) in 2014, during my candidacy for the Algerian presidential elections. Since this date, I have become the most popular opponent and politician in Algeria. After a total of 3124 kilometers walked across the desert and the mountains of Algeria (2014/2016) against the exploitation of shale gas and against corruption, I was "hit" with the challenges thrown at me by President Bouteflika's dictatorship, who has refused to give my party a formal approval in Algeria and allow us to hold meetings there. From June 2016 to May 2018, I was illegally placed on house arrest in my village, which is constantly encircled by 15 police officers in unmarked and official police cars. No contact with the population has been allowed. Only travel between my village and the airport has been allowed until recently. Since 2014, my driver's license has not been renewed. And since February 2018, the authorities refuse to renew my (still valid) passport, but in which there are almost no more available pages for visa, entry and exit stamps. I am also the subject of a two-year boycott of the part of the Algerian media. Dictator Bouteflika is obviously very angry about the global campaign I started in 2015 in front of Algerian embassies abroad, demonstrating against the corruption of Algerian politicians (95 demonstrations in total).
In Algeria, I pay the fines for human rights activists accused by the Algerian justice system. In November 2009, I visited Urumqi in China to support 12 young Turkish-speaking Uyghur people, who were scheduled to be executed by the Chinese justice system in China. In April 2013, I went to Nigeria in Kano to participate in the release of the (Catholic) Moulin-Fournier family, who had been held hostage by the Boko-Haram group. Anyway, since the interview-book that I wrote in 2000 with Bill Clinton and the G7 heads of State, I have intervened in 18 countries in order to defend the principle of freedom. It's all these combats for freedom which I describe in detail in my book "The Niqab's Voltaire". Today, I am very honored to be one of the 330 Nobel Foundation's designated candidates for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize. It's feels like a true recognition of the fair nature of my fights for freedom in the world.
