A hair salon owner in Western Norway who’s been active in anti-Islamic organizations has appealed a local court’s conviction that she illegally refused to serve customers wearing a hijab.
Salon owner Merete Hodne in Bryne, Rogaland County, was convicted of discriminating against customers based on religion and ordered to pay both a fine of NOK 10,0oo (USD 1,200) and NOK 5,000 in court costs. She landed in court after initially being hit with a fine of NOK 8,000 and refusing to pay it.
“We’re appealing all aspects of the conviction,” Hodne’s attorney, Linda Ellefsen Eide, told news bureau NTB. She called the local court’s ruling “too thin,” adding the case was “a matter of principle that must fully come to light.”
Hodne has been active in both the Norwegian organization Stopp Islamiseriengen av Norge and in the local chapter of Pegida. The court referred in its ruling against her to comments she has written on social media site Facebook that “Islam is much worse than naziism” and that she “didn’t want evil to come in doors where I can decide.” She has flatly refused to cut the hair of women who wear hijabs, claiming that the sight of a hijab gave her anxiety attacks.
newsinenglish.no staff
