THE president of the Islamic Society of Ballarat says he is not opposed to police having the power to force people to remove facial coverings.Ibrahim Sultan said he believed the majority of Australia’s Muslim population supported the idea of giving police clearer powers to identify people.“You cannot do anything to violate or contradict the law, and people have to practise their religions within those limits,” Dr Sultan said.“Muslims have to follow the law of the land.”The Baillieu government has announced it will consider introducing New South Wales legislation allowing police to ask people stopped during routine vehicle checks to remove burqas, veils or other head and face coverings.The New South Wales government tabled the legislation this week, after Sydney woman Carnita Matthews won an appeal against a conviction for falsely accusing a police officer of trying to rip off her veil, when she was pulled over while driving last year.Ms Matthews had her six month conviction quashed after a judge found there was not enough evidence to prove that she had made the statutory declaration accusing the officer.Under the New South Wales legislation, anyone who refuses to reveal their identity will now face up to one year’s jail.Dr Sultan said he had no issue with any legislation aimed at strengthening the rule of law.But he said Muslim women should be able to request to speak with a female police officer if they did not feel comfortable showing their faces to a policeman.“In Australia we have policewomen, so they should be able to do that,” he said.“That’s my only concern – the human rights (aspect).”Dr Sultan said that forcing women to cover their faces was not prescribed by Islam.Islamic law allows a Muslim woman to remove her veil to verify her identity.“Some people do subscribe to the notion that women should cover their faces, but the mainstream will not be concerned by these decisions,” Dr Sultan said.