Farm worker Yuet Rappard should not have been fined for telling a foreign student to remove her burqa, Otago University religious freedom professor Rex Ahdar says.
And free speech professor Andrew Geddis said Rappard's view was valid and a Supreme Court ruling allowed people to cause offence, and upset others, to maintain the freedom of speech.
Rappard was found guilty of offensive behaviour and fined $500 on Wednesday for telling a student on May 17 in a Dunedin supermarket to remove her burqa or leave New Zealand. [Otago Daily Times] Read more
