A Sydney Muslim woman who lost her terrorism raid lawsuit suffered a miscarriage of justice as she was not allowed to give evidence with her face covered, an appeal court has been told.
The "deeply-held religious beliefs" of Moutia Elzahed meant she did not give "crucial" evidence about her version of what police did during the September 2014 raid, her lawyer, Jeremy Kirk SC, argued on Monday in the NSW Court of Appeal.
Ms Elzahed, who lost her civil action and was ordered to pay $250,000 in police legal costs, is challenging the trial judge's ruling that she could not give evidence while wearing a niqab.
Her then-lawyer told the female judge it was against her religion to reveal her face to men.
As well as claiming the judge erred in not letting her give evidence in a niqab, Mr Kirk says she should have been allowed to testify via another method, such as a screen, that revealed her face to women but not to men. [The Sydney Morning Herald] Read more
