Back in November, I reported on a burqa'ed Muslima in Australia, Carnita Matthews, who was charged with making a false complaint that used the Muslim victimhood card in her defense.  "All cops are racist," she charged -- what race?  Covered from head to toe in a burqa, with just a slit through which to see, the Muslima claimed that a police officer had tried to tear off her burqa.

It didn't happen.  Matthews was charged with making a false complaint to police.  And the judge, Magistrate Robert Rabbidge, saw through her claim right away, describing her lie as "deliberate, malicious and ruthless."  Rabbidge added: "There is not a shadow of doubt in my mind, beyond a reasonable doubt, that she knew that the complaint she was making was false."

Matthews, predictably, played the race card, saying: "You look at me and see me wearing this and you couldn't handle it. All cops are racist."

Her lawyer claimed that Matthews had been a victim of mistaken identity.  Because who really knows who was under that burqa?  Only Allah can say for sure.  But Rabbidge would have none of it.  Matthews is the one who lodged the complaint against an officer, and signed a statement to that effect.  Police prosecutor sergeant Lisa McEvoy said: "Her signature on that affidavit coupled with the signature on her driver's licence is exactly the same."

Matthews was found guilty, and was sentenced to six months in prison.  Yet despite the indisputable evidence against her, the burqa'ed civilizational jihadist appealed -- and this past week, she won, all the while remaining inside her cloth coffin.  A new judge, Clive Jeffreys, bought her claim of mistaken identity, and said that because she was wearing a burqa, there was no certainty that Carnita Matthews was the same woman who falsely accused the police officer.  Jeffreys contradicted Rabbidge, saying: "I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that she made the complaint. Even if I was satisfied that she made the complaint, I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that it was knowingly false."

The Muslims expressed their gratitude for this in their usual way: it was an ugly scene.  Australia's News.com.au reported: "More than a dozen Muslim supporters linked arms and began chanting 'Allah Akbar' as they stormed out of Downing Centre Court with Mrs Matthews concealed behind them. Tempers rose and they began jostling with police after several members of the group attacked cameramen."  Matthews' dhimmi lawyer Stephen Hopper explained: "They are obviously happy with the result and are expressing it in a way that is culturally appropriate to them."

Attacking cameramen: "culturally appropriate" for Muslims.

By the way, the full face veil is not in fact a religious mandate in Islam.  The bottom line is that Muhammad said Muslim men should shroud their chattel head to toe, but not cover their face and hands.  Thus it is clear that any woman who covers her face entirely is making a political statement, not a religious one.

And that political statement should be illegal.  The Elizabeth Smart case should be the catalyst for such legislation; at a time when her face was plastered on posters everywhere, Smart's captor covered her up in a burqa and escaped detection for nine months.  We have seen the weaponizing of the veil: in 2007, Afghan authorities caught a woman who had hidden a bomb under her burqa and was about to carry out a suicide jihad mission.  We have seen the use of the veil to commit crimes, escape detection, and even to kidnap and rape young girls and keep them hidden.  Many terrorists, criminals, and fugitives have taken advantage of our spinelessness in facing the enemy.  Burqas are frequently worn to conceal explosive vests.

In a horrific incident in May 2008, a hero was killed in the line of duty: Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski, a Philadelphia police officer and father of three children, was shot dead by three bank robbers.  His dying words were "tell my wife I'll miss her."  He was 39 years old.  The killers wore what the local press at the time called "Muslim garb" -- that is, burqas.  Their faces were concealed.  No one could even tell if they were men or women.

Put Carnita Matthews in jail.  And ban the burqa.

Pamela Geller is the editor and publisher of the Atlas Shrugs website and former associate publisher of the New York Observer.  She is the author of The Post-American Presidency.