Sudanese journalist avoids 40 lashes for wearing pants; still faces prison sentence

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Former journalist Lubna Ahmed Hussein, who was facing a punishment of 40 lashes for wearing pants by a Sudanese court, will not be lashed.

Hussein was instead given a 500 Sudanese pound fine (~ $200) by the judge. Apparently, the fine was decided on far in advance but the trial only served as a formality.

According to the Sudan’s interpetation of Islamic sharia law, women are not allowed to wear pants.

However, Hussein is refusing to pay the fine and will apparently been sentenced to a month’s prison sentence. According to British-Sudanese journalist Nesrine Malik, who was outside al-Hussein’s courtroom, the trial bought the Sudan’s Islamists to the fore:

The scenes I saw outside the court which convicted Lubna Hussein were even more dramatic than those during the last quickly adjourned trial. Security forces and female protestors clashed again, but a third party introduced itself into the fray – Islamist men who proceeded to abuse the women and rip up their banners while the police joined in the name-calling. It seems the whole case has flushed out the nastier elements in Khartoum society as female supporters of Hussein were branded “prostitutes”, that being the most polite word into which I can translate the insults.[...]

More disturbingly, the end of the case has flushed out hardline elements allied with the government who appear to be relishing the opportunity to villify the women who have been protesting. The irony is that on the way back from court I witnessed several women in trousers freely walking the streets of Khartoum proving that it was never about modesty but about Hussein’s refusal to capitulate to the authorities’ temperamental and arbitrary invocation of public order laws.

Hussein intends to fight the ruling as a “matter of principle” and claims it will be a journalistic opportunity to explore the conditions of jail.

According to Arabic-speakers, the Sudan’s sharia-derived regulations for female dress are vaguely worded and give authorities wide latitude to persecute at will.

The case started after Sudanese police raided a Khartoum cafe:

Public order police arrested Hussein along with around a dozen other women in a Khartoum public cafe. Ten of the women received a quick, closed-door trial and were flogged soon afterward, avoiding the social stigma associated with a public trial on morality charges.

Notably, Hussein turned down the offer of a presidential pardon and views the court case as an opportunity to take on an unjust law.

Protesters supporting Hussein poured onto the streets of Khartoum and 40 demonstrators were arrested.

Hussein had left journalism to work for the United Nations and enjoyed limited legal immunity as a result. However, Hussein resigned from her job “to give up any legal immunity so she can continue with the case, prove her innocence and challenge the decency law.”

Sudan’s human rights record has been described as horrific with widespread allegations of extrajudicial killings, torture, beats and rape in Darfur and elsewhere. At least 200,000 Sudanese have died since 2003.

For those who aren’t particularly concerned about human rights allegations unless they concern white people, British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons was also threatened with 40 lashes after naming a teddy bear “Mohammed.” The teddy bear was supposed to be named after one of her students.

There’s some good commentary over at The Sudanese Thinker.