Global Arab Network | Protest in Sudan - 40 lashes for wearing trousers

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Protest in Sudan - 40 lashes for wearing trousers

Global Arab Network - - Adam Turner

Tuesday, 04 August 2009 17:19

Supporters of a Sudanese woman facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public protest outside a Khartoum court.
Sudanese police have used tear gas to disperse protesters outside a court in Khartoum, the capital, after the trial of a Sudanese journalist on indecency charges was adjourned for a second time.

Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, who was arrested over her allegedly inappropriate trousers, said that the court wanted to clarify whether she, as a former United Nations worker, had legal immunity.

"They want to check with the UN whether I have immunity from prosecution," she told Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

"I don't know why they are doing this because I have already resigned from the United Nations. I think they just want to delay the case."

Al-Hussein, who was working as a press officer for the UN when she was arrested, has tried to waive the immunity to be able to challenge the law regulating women's clothing.

But Jalal al-Sayyid, a defense lawyer, said that there was a disagreement within her legal team, with one lawyer arguing that she had immunity and asking the judge to ignore al-Hussein's wishes.

The judge will defer the issue to the Sudanese foreign ministry before her next court date on September 7, al-Sayyid said.

Police dispersed hundreds of women and activists from opposition parties who demonstrated outside the court house in support of al-Hussein, a correspondent from the news agency AFP reported.

Some of the women were wearing trousers in solidarity with the charged and others carried banners and headbands with the message "No return to the dark ages."

Police arrested al-Hussein along with 12 other women wearing trousers in a Khartoum restaurant in July. (AFP, Reuters)

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