2 Women in Sudan Sentenced for Wearing Pants
LOS ANGELES TIMES: The ruling comes weeks after a similar case caused an uproar.

Khartoum, Sudan - Two Sudanese women Thursday were sentenced to 20 lashes and fined for committing an act of indecency by wearing trousers, weeks after a similar case sparked worldwide controversy.

The two women were arrested at the same party as Lubna Hussein, a former journalist who was also charged with wearing trousers and publicized her case as part of a campaign against Sudan's public-order laws.

Judge Hassan Mohamed Ali sentenced each woman to 20 lashes and a $110 fine in a Khartoum courtroom. >>> Reuters | Friday, October 23, 2009

Lubna Hussein: Justice Deferred
THE GUARDIAN: Lubna Hussein's trial for 'indecent dressing' has been postponed. But whatever the result she has struck a blow for women's rights

The trial of Lubna Hussein was postponed for the second time yesterday. Under the pretext of attempting to determine whether Hussein had truly revoked her immunity from prosecution when she resigned from her UN position, the authorities have bought more time to find a face-saving resolution to the debacle. This is looking more and more unlikely as Hussein's campaign gathers momentum both at home and abroad.

Initially, she was viewed as something of a loose cannon in Khartoum. So many before her had suffered the pot luck fate of flogging and retreated to lick their wounds in private for fear of attracting more shame and indignity. In a naturally demure and modest society, any suggestion of inappropriate behaviour leaves a woman with no option but to try and minimise the damage to her reputation and quell the "no smoke without fire" whispers.

But now that spell has been broken. Around 50 female protesters braved tear gas and baton beatings from police outside court yesterday, tying their fate to Lubna's. An ancillary case is brewing as another journalist faces an exorbitant fine for criticising the government's handling of the case. By breaking through the self-imposed barrier of fear of what others would think, Lubna has stripped her punishment of all its power and turned the tables spectacularly. If ultimately she is flogged her "martyrdom" will be complete – if she is found innocent the government will be humiliated and public order laws made a mockery of. >>> Nesrine Malik | Wednesday, August 05, 2009

Lubna Hussein: 'I'm Not Afraid of Being Flogged. It Doesn't Hurt. But It Is Insulting'
THE OBSERVER: Lubna Hussein could receive 40 lashes if found guilty on Tuesday of being indecently dressed - by wearing trousers. In her first major interview, she tells James Copnall in Khartoum why she is determined to fight on, whatever danger she faces

Sitting in the restaurant where her ordeal began, Lubna Hussein looks at the offending item of clothing that caused all the trouble and laughs softly. "In Sudan, women who wear trousers must be flogged!" she says, her eyes widening at the thought. The former journalist faces up to 40 lashes and an unlimited fine if she is convicted of breaching Article 152 of Sudanese criminal law, which prohibits dressing indecently in public.

What exactly constitutes "indecent" is not clear. Last month Lubna was among a crowd listening to an Egyptian singer in a restaurant in a swish area of Khartoum when policemen surged in. They ordered Lubna and other women to stand up to check what they were wearing, and arrested all those who had trousers on. Lubna, who was wearing loose green slacks and a floral headscarf, was taken to the police station.

"There were 13 of us, and the only thing we had in common was that we were wearing trousers," Lubna says. "Ten of the 13 women said they were guilty, and they got 10 lashes and a fine of 250 Sudanese pounds (about £65). One girl was only 13 or 14. She was so scared she urinated on herself."

Lubna asked for a lawyer, so her case was delayed. Despite the risks, she is determined that her trial should go ahead. Before her initial hearing last Wednesday, she had 500 invitation cards printed, and sent out emails with the subject line: "Sudanese journalist Lubna invites you again to her flogging tomorrow."

The court was flooded with women's rights activists, politicians, diplomats and journalists, as well as well-wishers. During the hearing, Lubna announced that she would resign from her job as a public information officer with the United Nations, which would have provided her with immunity, to fight the case. The judge agreed, and adjourned the trial until Tuesday.

Lubna says she has no fear of the punishment she might face. "Afraid of what? No, I am not afraid, really," she insists. "I think that flogging does not hurt, but it is an insult. Not for me, but for women, for human beings, and also for the government of Sudan. How can you tell the world that the government flogs the people? How can you do that?"

She is determined to face prosecution in order to change the law. "It is not for me. It is my chance to defend the women of Sudan. Women are often arrested and flogged because of what they wear. This has been happening for 20 years. Afterwards some of them don't continue at high school or university, sometimes they don't return to their family, and sometimes if the girls have a future husband, perhaps the relationship comes to an end." >>> James Copnall | Sunday, August 02, 2009

Woman in Sudan Faces Flogging for Wearing Trousers
THE TELEGRAPH: A Sudanese woman journalist is preparing to be flogged 40 times in Khartoum for wearing trousers, with 10 women already whipped for similar offences against Islamic law.

Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein. Photo: The Telegraph
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 "indecent" clothes.

"I received a telephone call from the authorities saying I must appear at 10 am (7am GMT) on Wednesday in front of the judge," Hussein said.

"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. >>> | Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Related:
Sudan Women ‘Lashed for Trousers’ >>> BBC | July 13, 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