Journo fined in Sudan for wearing trousers

KHARTOUM – A Sudanese judge convicted a woman journalist yesterday for violating the public indecency law by wearing trousers outdoors and fined her $200, but did not impose a feared flogging penalty.

Lubna Hussein was among 13 women arrested on July 3 in a raid by the public order police in Khartoum. Ten of the women were fined and flogged two days later. But Hussein and two others decided to go to trial.’I will not pay a penny,’ she told the Associated Press while still in court custody, wearing the same trousers that had sparked her arrest.Hussein said on Friday she would rather go to jail than pay any fine, out of protest of the nation’s strict laws on women’s dress.’I won’t pay, as a matter of principle,’ she said. ‘I would spend a month in jail. It is a chance to explore the conditions in jail.’The case has made headlines in Sudan and around the world and Hussein used it to rally world opinion against the country’s morality laws based on a strict interpretation of Islam.Galal al-Sayed, Hussein’s lawyer, said he advised her to pay the fine before appealing the decision. She refused, he said, ‘She insisted.’The lawyer said the judge ignored his request to present defence witnesses.’The ruling is incorrect,’ he said, adding that the prosecution witnesses gave contradictory statements.Al-Sayed said the judge had the option of choosing flogging, but apparently opted for fine to avoid international criticism. ‘There is a general sentiment in the world that flogging is humiliating.’ – Nampa-AP