Excerpt:
A ban on wearing niqabs or burqas in public has yet to be implemented in the canton of Ticino but an Algerian businessman is already vowing to "neutralize" it by paying any fines for breaking the law, recently passed by MPs in the southern Swiss canton.
Last month, cantonal lawmakers passed legislation prohibiting the wearing of such garments, which cover the face and are traditionally worn by women in many Muslim countries, with fines from 100 francs to 10,000 francs.
Rachid Nekkaz, a French-born Algerian internet entrepreneur and political activist, told a press conference in Locarno that he planned to pay all fines for people found in contravention of the law, which is not yet in force.