A man was standing outside a shop called McShark, dressed up as a shark in order to promote the new tech store in Vienna has been arrested.
Police officers approached him and demanded that he remove his shark head, under the new law that bans full face coverings in public places. When he refused, claiming he was “just doing his job“, they arrested him and gave him a fine.
As well as burkas, the law also bans clown disguises, medical masks outside of a hospital context, or scarves that cover the face. The ban is mainly aimed at the country’s Muslim minority and Austrian authorities said it was aimed at “ensuring the cohesion of society in an open society.” Violations are punishable by a fine of up to €150. Exception applies only to
Although the law is widely referred to as a “burka ban”’, the wording of the law was left deliberately religiously neutral. The burka ban also includes balaclavas and clown masks. It’s believed a member of the public reported the McShark mascot to police in order to make a point about the law. Warda Network, the advertising agency at the opening of McShark, wrote on Facebook: “Today we were at the McShark store opening and our shark mascot received a fine from the Vienna police because of the new ban on face-coverings. Life is not easy.”
Metro UK
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