The trial of a Tunisian academic accused of slapping a female student wearing an Islamic veil was postponed yesterday over procedural issues, a defence lawyer said.

Habib Kazdaghli, whose trial has gripped Tunisia for months amid bristling tensions between secularists and hardline Salafists, has been postponed to November 15, lawyer Mokhtar Trifi said.

Kazdaghli, dean of the faculty of arts, letters and humanities at Manouba University, is accused of slapping a student who refused to remove the full-face veil known as the niqab.

The postponement resulted from a request by both the plaintiff and claimant for the court to allow the student – who has not been named – to lodge a civil claim as part of the criminal case, said Trifi.

Such a move would give the side that wins the case the right to seek financial compensation.

Kazdaghli, who has been charged with violence committed by an official while carrying out his duties, faces five years in jail if convicted. (AFP)

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