Police in Australia's New South Wales state have been given more powers to remove burkas and other face coverings to identify crime suspects.

澳大利亚新南威尔士州警察被给予移除蒙住全身的长袍和其它脸部遮盖物以鉴定犯罪嫌疑犯的权力。

Muslim organisations in the state said they accepted the changes
Anyone who refuses to show their face could now be jailed for up to a year or face a heavy fine.

The move follows the recent case of a Muslim woman who was acquitted¹（释放） after a judge ruled her Islamic veil made a positive identification impossible.

Islamic leaders in the state said they were comfortable with the new measure.

'Clarity and certainty'

The New South Wales government approved the changes at a meeting late on Monday.

"I don't care whether a person is wearing a motorcycle helmet, a burka, niqab（面纱） , face veil or anything else, the police should be allowed to require those people to make their identification clear," Premier² Barry O'Farrell said.

He added: "I have every respect for various religions and beliefs but when it comes to enforcing the law the police should be given adequate powers to make a clear identification."

State police welcomed the change, saying it would "provide clarity and certainty for both the public and for police officers".

The Islamic Council of New South Wales said it accepted the move, while the Muslim Women's Association said it had no problem if police handled the issue sensitively, including the deployment³ of female police officers.

The changes come after the high-profile case of Carnita Matthews, who last year was sentenced to six months in prison for falsely accusing a policeman of trying to forcibly remove her burka during a random⁴ breath test.

But she won on appeal after a judge ruled that the prosecution⁵ could not prove she had made the false complaint because officers were not able to see her face.

State police previously⁶ had the power to request the removal of face veils while investigating serious offences, but not on more routine matters.