Sudanese Journalist Jailed after Refusing to Pay Fine for Wearing Trousers
TIMES ONLINE: A Sudanese woman put on trial for wearing trousers was spared the lash today but still landed in jail after refusing to pay the £130 fine imposed for indecency.

Lubna Hussein, a 34-year-old widow whose trial exposed Sudan’s draconian Islamic laws, was taken to prison in the same trousers she wore when she was arrested with 12 other women at a Khartoum restaurant in July.

“I will not pay a penny, I’d rather go to prison” she declared after hearing the verdict. She was then taken to a women’s jail in Omdurman, across the Nile from Khartoum, the capital, to serve a one month-sentence for refusing to pay the fine.

Aware of worldwide interest in the case, the judge had tried to be lenient. His punishment fell far short of the maximum penalty under the notorious Article 152 of Sudan’s penal code which prescribes 40 lashes and an unlimited fine for women dressed in an indecent or obscene manner in public.

Ten of the other women arrested with her had already pleaded guilty to the charge of indecency and been flogged.

However, unlike thousands of other women arrested in similar circumstance every year, Ms Hussein, a journalist who worked for the United Nations, refused to accept her summary punishment.

She called a lawyer, and even as the court tried to close this embarrassing chapter today by slapping on a fine, she vowed to fight on.

“Lubna has bravely sacrificed her freedom to free other women from the oppression of the law,” said Ahmed Elzobier, one of Ms Hussein’s supporters.

“She is not guilty, but the police the court and the government are the guilty ones.”

“The campaign will continue,” Mr Elzobier added. “Although Lubna is going to prison, the rest of her supporters will keep challenging these laws.” >>> Tristan McConnell | Monday, September 07, 2009

Sudan Women 'Lashed for Trousers'
BBC: Several Sudanese women have been flogged as a punishment for dressing "indecently", according to a local journalist who was arrested with them.

Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, who says she is facing 40 lashes, said she and 12 other women wearing trousers were arrested in a restaurant in the capital, Khartoum.

She told the BBC several of the women had pleaded guilty to the charges and had 10 lashes immediately.

Khartoum, unlike South Sudan, is governed by Sharia law.

Several of those punished were from the mainly Christian and animist south, Ms Hussein said.

Non-Muslims are not supposed to be subject to Islamic law, even in Khartoum and other parts of the mainly Muslim north.
She said that a group of about 20 or 30 police officers entered the popular Khartoum restaurant and arrested all the women wearing trousers.

"I was wearing trousers and a blouse and the 10 girls who were lashed were wearing like me, there was no difference," she told the BBC's Arabic service.

Ms Hussein said some women pleaded guilty to "get it over with" but others, including herself, chose to speak to their lawyers and are awaiting their fates.

Under Sharia law in Khartoum, the normal punishment for "indecent" dressing is 40 lashes.

Ms Hussein is a well-known reporter who writes a weekly column called Men Talk for Sudanese papers. She also works for the United Nations Mission in Sudan. [Source: BBC] | Monday, July 13, 2009