KHARTOUM (AFP) – A Sudanese woman journalist was preparing to be flogged 40 times in Khartoum on Wednesday for wearing "indecent" clothes, with 10 women already whipped for similar offences against Islamic law.

Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, who writes for the left-wing Al-Sahafa newspaper and works for the media department of the United Nations Mission in Sudan, was arrested in Khartoum earlier this month after being caught wearing trousers.

"I received a telephone call from the authorities saying I must appear at 10 am (0700 GMT) on Wednesday in front of the judge," Hussein told AFP on Tuesday.

"It is important that people know what is happening," Hussein said in an invitation to journalists to attend her court appearance and flogging.

"They will lash me 40 times, and also fine me 250 Sudanese pounds (100 dollars)."

Hussein said she was at a restaurant on July 3 when police came in and ordered 13 women wearing trousers to follow them to the police station.

Ten of the women were summoned to a police station two days later and were lashed 10 times each, according to Hussein, who wears a hijab or Islamic headscarf.

The women whipped earlier this month included some from animist and Christian south Sudan where the Muslim north's Islamic or sharia law does not apply.

Police have also cracked down on another woman journalist, Amal Habbani, after she wrote an article condemning Hussein's treatment.

Habbani wrote an article for Ajrass Al-Horreya newspaper following the arrests entitled "Lubna, a case of subduing a woman's body."

"I am waiting for a decision," Habbani told AFP after she was charged with defaming police, a charge which can carry a fine of up to several hundred thousand dollars.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said the charge against Habbani stemmed from her claim that Hussein's arrest was "not about fashion but a political tactic to intimidate and terrorise opponents."

Unlike many other Arab countries, particularly in the Gulf, women have a prominent place in Sudanese public life. Nevertheless, human rights organisations say some of Sudan's laws discriminate against women.

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Lubna al-Hussein, along with several other women, was arrested for dressing indecently in trousers as she dined in a restaurant

A Christian woman who faces 40 lashes for wearing trousers in Sudan made a dramatic appearance in court yesterday to fight her case. 

Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein walked into the packed hearing in the same green slacks that got her arrested.

Under Islamic laws used in parts of the country, it is illegal for a woman to wear trousers rather than long skirts in public.  

But the law is not supposed to apply to non-Muslims like Miss Hussein, a former journalist who works for the United Nations.

And it is only imposed sporadically in the capital, Khartoum, where she was arrested.
Indecency cases are not uncommon in Sudan, but Miss Hussein has used hers to campaign against dress codes.

Yesterday journalists scuffled with police armed with batons outside the court and some reporters, who were briefly detained, had equipment confiscated.

Scores of women, some wearing slacks, attended to support Miss Hussein.

The case was adjourned as lawyers discussed whether her status as a UN employee gave her legal immunity.

After the hearing, defence lawyer Nabil Adib Abdalla said she had agreed to resign from the UN in time for the next session on August 4, to make sure the case continued.

Mr Abdalla said: 'First of all she wants to show she is totally innocent, and using her immunity will not prove that.

'Second she wants to fight the law. The law is too wide. It needs to be reformed. This is turning into a test case.'

He said Miss Hussein was ready to face the maximum penalty for the criminal offence of wearing indecent dress in public, of 40 lashes and an unlimited fine. Miss Hussein was arrested in June when police raided a party she was attending at a restaurant in Khartoum's Riyadh district. 

She said before the hearing: 'Thousands of women are punished with lashes in Sudan but they stay silent. The law is being used to harass women and I want to expose this.'

She said a number of other women arrested with her received lashes. But her case was sent for trial when she called in a lawyer.

Northern Sudan is governed by Islamic law which includes restrictions on public decency, particularly for women.

While most women wear traditional dresses in public, some, particularly from the mostly Christian south, wear slacks and more Western clothes.

Lashing is often administered minutes after a trial, in public outside the court room for male defendants but generally in private for women.




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