Photo via amptoons.com

Sudanese female ‘indecent trouser journalist‘ will keep up campaign

Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed Hussein, who spent a day in jail for refusing to pay a fine for wearing 'indecent trousers,' vowed on her release on Tuesday to keep up the battle against the law, reports Michael Ireland, chief correspondent, ASSIST News Service.

"We will continue the fight to change this law, the public order police, the public order tribunals," she told news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) at the offices of Ajras Al Hurriya (Bells of Freedom) newspaper where noisy supporters celebrated her release.

According to the AFP, Hussein was imprisoned on Monday after she refused to pay the fine imposed earlier the same day by a Khartoum court for wearing trousers deemed indecent. She could have faced one month in jail.

"She came out of prison. We paid the 500-pound [$200] fine," explained Mohiedinne Titawi, president of the Sudanese Union of Journalists, announcing the release.

"I don't even know who paid the fine, I had told my family and friends not to pay it," Hussein said.

The journalist was wearing slacks when she was arrested along with 12 other women in a Khartoum restaurant in July, the AFP said.

AFP says the Sudanese law in the conservative Muslim north stipulates a maximum of 40 lashes for wearing indecent clothing.

The news agency also said women in trousers are not a rare sight in Sudan, but the authorities can take offence at trousers which reveal too much of a woman's shape, leading to accusations from rights groups that judgment is arbitrary.

AFP reported that ten of the women arrested in July on the indecent dress charge, including Christians, were subsequently summoned by police and each given 10 lashes.

Hussein led a public battle against the law, resigning from the United Nations, where she worked as a media officer, to stand trial, the AFP said.

Her case led to an outcry abroad and demonstrations at home.

The AFP said the office of the UN human rights chief on Tuesday said her sentencing breached international law and exemplified the discrimination faced by women in Sudan.

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TAGS: Sudan Lubna Ahmed Hussein ‘indecent trouser journalist‘ public order tribunals human rights

[09/10/2009]

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