(Reuters/NAN) Switzerland could become the latest country to ban facial coverings worn by some Muslim women after activists collected more than 100,000 signatures required to put the proposal to a national vote.

The group, called “Yes to a Mask Ban” delivered the petition on Friday, setting up a vote by 2020.

Some of its leaders also spearheaded the 2009 Swiss ban on new minarets being built in the country.

A delegation of leaders from the group delivered three boxes containing 106,600 signatures to the federal chancellery, part of the Swiss parliament building in Bern.

Full-face coverings such as niqabs and burqas are a polarising issue across Europe, with some arguing that they symbolise discrimination against women and should be outlawed.

The clothing has already been banned in France.

“Facial coverings are a symbol of radical Islam that have nothing to do with religious freedom but are rather an expression of the oppression of women,’’ said Anian Liebrand, a Swiss campaign leader.

“In Switzerland, we show our faces when we talk to each other.’’

Others contended that bans unnecessarily intrude on religious freedom.

“How many people wear these burqas in Switzerland?’’ said Oender Gueneş, a spokesperson for the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Switzerland, which represents more than 200 mosques,’’ he said.

Walter Wobmann (R), National Councillor and Co-President committee for “Yes to a Mask Ban’’ (Ja zum Verhuellungsverbot), speaks next to Jean-Luc Addor, National Councillor, in front of boxes containing more than 100,000 signatures collected.

These signatures are required to put the proposal of a ban on facial coverings worn by some Muslim women to a national vote, at the Federal Chancellery in Bern, Switzerland.

“You can probably count those living in Switzerland on maybe one or two hands. The rest are usually rich tourists from the Gulf, two thirds of Switzerland’s 8.4 million residents are Christians.

But its Muslim population has risen to 5 per cent, largely because of immigrants from former Yugoslavia.

“One Swiss canton, Italian-speaking Ticino, already has a similar ban.

“At least two demonstrators who wore veils in defiance after the ban came into effect in July 2016 and paid fines of 260 dollars,’’ Swiss media have reported.

The Switzerland-wide initiative foresees parliament deciding on penalties.

Though the measure would also forbid protesters from concealing their faces during demonstrations, the main focus has been on burqas.

France’s ban was upheld in 2014 by the European Court of Human Rights.

This year Germany’s parliament backed a ban on full-face veils for civil servants, judges and soldiers, while Austria and the Netherlands have also debated the issue.

With signatures in hand, leaders of the Swiss initiative expect three years of wrangling in Switzerland’s system of direct democracy before voters get the chance to register their view.

Liebrand is optimistic his initiative’s path would mirror the progress of the 2009 minaret ban.

“The minaret campaign started as underdogs and was something the big parties didn’t want, but I reckon the facial coverings ban will also resonate with the people,’’ he said.

A United Kingdom-based civil society organisation, Citizens United for Peace and Stability, said on Friday it has started gathering facts about the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, intending to ask the UK Government to revoke his British citizenship.

Kanu is a dual citizen of the UK and Nigeria.

According to the Convener of CUPS, Dr. Idris Ahmed, the move seeking the revocation of Kanu’s British citizenship was connected to alleged acts of “terrorism perpetrated by IPOB, including the recent attacks on Northerners living in the Southeast.”

In several Facebook posts on Friday, Ahmed said, “Beyond any doubt, IPOB is a terrorist organisation. I have watched so many video clips on Facebook in which Nnamdi Kanu talked about mobilising weapons and financial resources to wage war against the Nigerian State.

“The CUPS organisation has started compiling evidence to pass to the British Government to strip Nnamdi Kanu of his UK citizenship.

“Under a new law, over 100 UK citizens who went overseas to commit acts of terrorism or fight for ISIS have been stripped of their citizenship by the Home Secretary (Minister of Internal Affairs).

“Nnamdi Kanu perfectly falls into this category.”

The US Police have rescued a man named Jose Duran whose two hands were nailed to a tree in the forest area of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

According to Breitbart News website, a city worker (who preferred not be named) discovered Duran with both hands nailed to a tree and screaming for help.

Breitbart further reports that a police officer who followed the city worker to the forest finally found Duran nailed to a tree, still conscious, breathing, and groaning in pain.

The officer immediately called for paramedic rescue.

However, Duran initially refused to tell the officer his name but finally gave some details about how he ended up there.

Duran later took journalists to the exact same spot where more than a dozen first responders worked to set him free.

Police have however said they didn’t suspect this was a payback for crime or a cartel-related punishment.

It said Duran does not have a criminal record, but he did have a long-running court battle over a real estate issue.

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