Men were ordered out of a Perth court yesterday after a judge set down conditions to accommodate a woman giving evidence without her nikab.
But while male journalists and men from the public gallery were banned, 19 males involved in the trial --including 12 jurors -- were allowed to stay in the District Court room.
The woman, known only as Tasneem, took off part of her head-to-toe nikab so that her face was revealed as she gave evidence via video link from a nearby room in the court complex.
Media organisations had applied to judge Shauna Deane for male journalists to be allowed to remain in court but their application was refused and the judge ruled that only men associated with the trial were allowed to stay.
In the small room, Tasneem’s hair was covered with a black hijab and she was wearing a long, black shapeless cloak.
She had wanted to give evidence with the full covering, but earlier this year Judge Deane ruled she would have to remove it to help the jury assess her testimony.
Addressing the jury before Tasneem’s testimony yesterday, Judge Deane said it was “very common” for witnesses to give evidence via video and they could not form any adverse opinion against Tasneem because of the way she gave evidence.
Tasneem was in the witness box for just 15 minutes at the fraud trial of Anwar Sayed, who is accused of defrauding the commonwealth and state of up to $750,000 while principal of Perth’s Muslim Ladies College in 2006.
After giving an oath on the Koran, Tasneem told the court that she taught Islamic studies at the school part-time, though she was not a qualified teacher. She was quizzed on her position at the school and the number of pupils.
The number of students at the school in 2006 is vital to the prosecution’s case against Mr Sayed because they allege he inflated student numbers to get more government money.
Mr Sayed has denied he falsified numbers at the school.