KHARTOUM, (Reuters) – A Sudanese woman facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public made her first appearance in a court packed with supporters yesterday, in what her lawyer described as a test case of Sudan’s decency laws.
There were chaotic scenes as Lubna Hussein, a former journalist who works for the United Nations, attended the hearing wearing the same green slacks that got her arrested for immodest dress.
Indecency cases are not uncommon in Sudan, where there is a large cultural gap between the mostly Muslim and Arab-oriented north and the mainly black and Christian south.
But Hussein has attracted attention by publicizing her case, inviting journalists to hearings and using it to campaign against dress codes sporadically imposed in the capital.
The case was adjourned on Wednesday as lawyers discussed whether her status as a U.N. employee gave her legal immunity.
After the hearing, defense lawyer Nabil Adib Abdalla said Hussein had agreed to resign from the United Nations in time for the next court session on Aug. 4 to make sure the case continued.
“First of all she wants to show she is totally innocent, and using her immunity will not prove that,” Abdalla told reporters. “Second she wants to fight the law. The law is too wide. It needs to be reformed … This is turning into a test case. Human rights groups will be watching this closely.”
He said Hussein was ready to face the maximum penalty for the criminal offense of wearing indecent dress in public — 40 lashes and an unlimited fine.
Before the hearing, Hussein told Reuters she was arrested in early July when police raided a party at a restaurant in Khartoum’s Riyadh district.
“Thousands of women are punished with lashes in Sudan but they stay silent,” she said. “The law is being used to harass women and I want to expose this.”
A number of women arrested with her had received lashes, Hussein said, but her case was sent for trial when she called in a lawyer.
Journalists scuffled with police armed with batons outside the court yesterday and some reporters, who were briefly detained, had tapes and equipment confiscated.
