Kazakhstan bans face coverings in public places

ALMATY (Reuters) -Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev signed a law on Monday prohibiting individuals from wearing clothing in public places that covers their faces, joining a trend in several Central Asian countries to restrict forms of Islamic dress.

The text of the law says clothing that "interferes with facial recognition" will be banned in public, with exemptions for medical purposes, in adverse weather conditions and at sporting and cultural events.

The legislation, one in a series of wider amendments signed into law on Monday, does not explicitly mention religion or types of religious dress.

Tokayev has previously praised the legislation as an opportunity to celebrate ethnic identity in Kazakhstan, a majority-Muslim country and former Soviet republic.

"Rather than wearing face-concealing black robes, it's much better to wear clothes in the national style," he was quoted by Kazakh media as saying earlier this year.

"Our national clothes vividly emphasise our ethnic identity, so we need to popularise them comprehensively."

Other Central Asian countries have introduced similar laws in recent years.

Police in Kyrgyzstan have conducted street patrols to enforce their ban on the Islamic niqab face veil, according to local media reports. In Uzbekistan, violating the niqab statute carries a fine of over $250. Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon signed a ban on wearing clothing in public that is "alien to national culture."

(Reporting by Mariya Gordeyeva; writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Mark Heinrich)

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