Police officers in the Brussels municipality of Sint-Joost-ten-Node were attacked by the husband of a woman that refused to remove her burqa. The incident happened on Wednesday after a patrol from the Brussels-North Local Police Service spotted the woman wearing a burqa on the Liedekerkestraat at around 12:35pm.
The wearing burqas and other garments that cover the face has been illegal since legislation on the issue was passed by the Federal Parliament earlier this year.
The police officers asked the woman to remove the part of the burqa that covered her face so that they could identify her. She refused and was asked a second time to show her face.
This met with a furious response from her husband who proceeded to attack the police officers.

One officer was injured in the attack and will be off work for three days.
Police Commissioner Roland Thiébaut told the Brussels regional news website brusselnieuws.be that “Our inspectors wanted to identify her to enable them to draft a crime report.”
“She refused and her husband became aggressive. He said that he would kill anyone that touched his wife. He struck one of the inspectors. The police officer is now unable to work for three days. “
The man was detained and his case is now in the hands of the judicial authorities. The woman left the scene without removing her burqa.
However, the police have been able to identify the woman and have compiled a crime report for the judicial authorities.