فضية لبنى فى صحف العالم من سيدنى الى سياتل (تتورطون)

Quote: Whip me if you dare' says Lubna Hussein, Sudan's defiant trouser woman Lubna Hussein, the Sudanese woman who is daring Islamic judges to have her whipped for the "crime" of wearing trousers, has given a defiant interview to the Telegraph. By Talal Osman in Khartoum and Nick Meo Published: 7:00PM BST 01 Aug 2009

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In court on Tuesday Mrs Hussein will dare judges to have her flogged.
In court on Tuesday Mrs Hussein will dare judges to have her flogged. Photo: TALAL OSMAN
In court on Tuesday Mrs Hussein will dare judges to have her flogged.
In court on Tuesday Mrs Hussein will dare judges to have her flogged. Photo: TALAL OSMAN

As the morality police crowded around her table in a Khartoum restaurant, leering at her to see what she was wearing, Lubna Hussein had no idea she was about to become the best-known woman in Sudan.

She had arrived at the Kawkab Elsharq Hall on a Friday night to book a cousin's wedding party, and while she waited she watched an Egyptian singer and sipped a coke.

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She left less than an hour later under arrest as a "trouser girl" - humiliated in front of hundreds of people, then beaten around the head in a police van before being hauled before a court to face a likely sentence of 40 lashes for the "sin" of not wearing traditional Islamic dress.

The officials who tried to humiliate her expected her to beg for mercy, as most of their victims do.

Instead she turned the tables on them – and in court on Tuesday Mrs Hussein will dare judges to have her flogged, as she makes a brave stand for women's rights in one of Africa's most conservative nations.

She has become an overnight heroine for thousands of women in Africa and the Middle East, who are flooding her inbox with supportive emails. To the men who feel threatened by her she is an enemy of public morals, to be denounced in the letters pages of newspapers and in mosques.

As she recounted her ordeal in Khartoum yesterday Mrs Hussein, a widow in her late thirties who works as a journalist and United Nations' press officer, managed cheerfully to crack jokes - despite the real prospect that in a couple of days she will be flogged with a camel-hair whip in a public courtyard where anyone who chooses may watch the spectacle.

Her interview with The Sunday Telegraph was her first with a Western newspaper.

"Flogging is a terrible thing – very painful and a humiliation for the victim," she said. "But I am not afraid of being flogged. I will not back down.

"I want to stand up for the rights of women, and now the eyes of the world are on this case I have a chance to draw attention to the plight of women in Sudan."

She could easily have escaped punishment by simply claiming immunity as a UN worker, as she is entitled to under Sudanese law. Instead, she is resigning from the UN – to the confusion of judges who last Wednesday adjourned the case because they did not know what to do with her.

"When I was in court I felt like a revolutionary standing before the judges," she said, her eyes blazing with pride. "I felt as if I was representing all the women of Sudan."

Like many other women in the capital, Mrs Hussein fell foul of Sudan's Public Order Police, hated groups of young puritans employed by the government to crack down on illegal drinkers of alcohol and women who, in their view, are insufficiently demure.

Despite their claims of moral superiority, they have a reputation for dishonesty and for demanding sexual favours from women they arrest.

Mrs Hussein was one of 14 women arrested at the Kawkab Elsharq Hall, a popular meeting place for the capital's intellectuals and journalists, who bring their families. Most of them were detained for wearing trousers. The police had difficulty seeing what Mrs Hussein was wearing under her loose, flowing Sudanese clothes. She was wearing green trousers, not the jeans that she said she sometimes wears, and wore a headscarf, as usual.

"They were very rude," she said. "A girl at a table near mine was told to stand up and told to take a few steps and then turn around, in a very humiliating way. She was let off when they 'discovered' she was not wearing trousers."

After her arrest, on the way to a police station, she tried to calm the younger girls.

"All the girls were forced to crouch on the floor of the pick-up with all the policemen sitting on the sides," she said. "They were all very terrified and crying hysterically, except me as I had been arrested before during university days by the security services.

"So I began to try to calm the girls, telling them this wasn't very serious. The response of the policeman was to snatch my mobile phone, and he hit me hard on the head with his open hand.

"On the way I felt so humiliated and downtrodden. In my mind was the thought that we were only treated like this because we were females."

Christian women visiting from the south of Sudan were among the 10 women who admitted their error and were summarily flogged with 10 lashes each. But Mrs Hussein declined to admit her guilt and insisted on her right to go before a judge.

While waiting for her first court appearance, she said she was surprised to find herself held in a single cramped detention cell with other prisoners of both sexes. "How Islamic is that?" she asked. "This should not happen under Sharia."

Mrs Hussein is a long-standing critic of Sudan's government, headed by President Omar al-Bashir, the first head of state to face an international arrest warrant for war crimes. Sudan has been accused of committing atrocities in the Darfur region.

Before her arrest she had written several articles criticising the regime, although she believes she was picked at random by the morality police.

The regime has often caused international revulsion for religious extremism. In 2007 British teacher Gillian Gibbons was briefly imprisoned for calling the classroom teddy bear Mohammed.

The government is dominated by Islamists, although only the northern part of the nation is Muslim. Young women are frequently harassed and arrested by the regime's morality police.

Mrs Hussein said: "The acts of this regime have no connection with the real Islam, which would not allow the hitting of women for the clothes they are wearing and in fact would punish anyone who slanders a woman.

"These laws were made by this current regime which uses it to humiliate the people and especially women. These tyrants are here to distort the real image of Islam."

She was released from custody after her first court appearance last week, since when she has appeared on Sudanese television and radio to argue her case - which has made headlines around the world.

She is not only in trouble with police and judges. A day after her court appearance she was threatened by a motorcyclist, who did not remove his helmet. He told her that she would end up like an Egyptian woman who was murdered in a notorious recent case.

Since then she has not slept at home, moving between the houses of relatives. She believes her mobile telephone has been listened to by the security services using scanners.

But she has pledged to keep up her fight. "I hope the situation of women improves in Sudan. Whatever happens I will continue to fight for women's rights."

Quote: Lubna Hussein: justice deferred Lubna Hussein's trial for 'indecent dressing' has been postponed. But whatever the result she has struck a blow for women's rights * * o Nesrine Malik o guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 August 2009 15.50 BST o Article history Lubna Hussein at the cafe in Khartoum where she was arrested for wearing trousers. Lubna Hussein at the cafe in Khartoum where she was arrested for wearing trousers. Photograph: Mohamed Nureldin Abdallh/Reuters 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. Aspects of the story have now taken on the quality of urban legend. There are whispers of government emissaries dispatched to her house in the dead of night in an effort to hammer out a deal, but that Hussein would not countenance any solution involving acceptance of her guilt. The support has now evolved from a woman's movement into a comprehensive one with political elements relishing the opportunity to embarrass a government hiterto immune from criticism. The case offers the perfect opportunity to criticise the system of laws under the cover of what is widely believed to be a morally justified campaign. "It is good to see [the government] squirm" a realtive said to me, as local trial tourists drove past the court to witness police beating supporters and allegedly at one point, one of Hussein's female lawyers. Using religion as excuse for tyranny in social affairs has unintentionally resulted in the public using this case as an excuse for political dissent. The new date for the trial, 7 September, falls in the middle of Ramadan. This will work in Hussein's favour. Ramadan is a month when Muslims are supposed to renounce violence and refrain from all intolerant behaviour, dedicating the fast to peaceful contemplation. Perhaps the government will invoke its faux piety and use this as an excuse to delay the trial yet again if no other solution can be negotiated in the meantime. Hopefully, the momentum the case has captured will not ease. Flogged or found innocent, the world will be watching.

(عدل بواسطة Hashim Badr Eldin on 08-06-2009, 09:24 PM)

Quote: Trial adjourned for Sudanese woman who faces flogging for wearing trousers A Sudanese judge has adjourned the trial of Lubna Hussein, the young woman facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public. By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi Published: 1:50PM BST 04 Aug 2009 Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein: Trial adjourned for Sudanese woman who faces flogging for wearing trousers Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein Photo: AFP/GETTY Riot police fired tear gas and beat scores of women protesting outside the Khartoum court in support of Miss Hussein. Witnesses reported a short burst of gunfire as the authorities tried to disperse the crowd. Inside the courtroom, Miss Hussein, a former journalist and United Nations press officer, was on Tuesday due to learn whether she would be found guilty of committing an indecent act and sentenced to 40 lashes with a camel hide whip. Related Articles * Sudanese women flogged for wearing trousers * Woman in Sudan faces flogging for wearing trousers * Maldives flogs women as punishment for sex outside marriage * French students killers may face whole life in jail * Man jailed for rape is cleared 'because his trial was too long' But judges again adjourned their verdict until September 7, apparently to consult over whether Miss Hussein's job would grant her immunity. "They want to check with the UN whether I have immunity from prosecution," she told Reuters outside the Khartoum court. "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." Miss Hussein, who is in her 30s, was arrested in a Khartoum restaurant with 12 other women by Sudan's Public Order police for wearing " indecent clothing". Ten of the women - some of them Christians from southern Sudan to whom such laws should not apply - accepted a punishment of 10 lashes each. But Miss Hussein's defiant stand against the charge has gathered wide publicity and has embarrassed Sudan's strict ruling regime. "I am not afraid of being flogged. I will not back down," she told The Sunday Telegraph in her first interview with a Western newspaper at the weekend. "I want to stand up for the rights of women, and now the eyes of the world are on this case, I have a chance to draw attention to the plight of women in Sudan." Miss Hussein was wearing a pair of loose green slacks, a blouse and a thin headscarf when she fell foul of the Public Order police. She was deemed to have contravened Article 152 of Sudanese law, which punishes with 40 lashes anyone who "commits an indecent act which violates public morality or wears indecent clothing". But women's groups have argued that the law gives no clear definition of indecent dress, leaving the decision of whether to arrest a women up to individual police officers. "If I'm sentenced to be whipped, or to anything else, I will appeal," she said on Monday. "I will see it through to the end, to the constitutional court if necessary. And if the constitutional court says the law is constitutional, I'm ready to be whipped not 40 but 40,000 times". Miss Hussein has argued that wearing trousers does not contravene Sharia, the Islamic law in operation in Muslim northern Sudan. She defiantly appeared in court last week wearing the same clothes in which she was arrested. She printed 500 invitations to supporters, human rights activists and journalists to attend the hearing.

Quote: Trial of Female Journalist Arrested for Wearing Trousers Postponed until 7 September; Second Female Journalist Faces Enormous Fine for ‘Defamation’ IPI Fellow Vuslat Dogan Sabanci, in Khartoum to Observe Court Hearing, Warns Media Freedom & Other Human Rights under Threat Lubna Hussein after her trial was postponed to 7 September, in Khartoum, 04 August 2009. Photo: Sebati Karakurt/ Hurriyet The trial of Sudanese journalist Lubna Hussein, who faces 40 lashes after being arrested a month ago for wearing trousers, has been postponed, again, until 7 September, according to International Press Institute (IPI) fellow Vuslat Dogan Sabancı, who was in Khartoum for the hearing. Sabanci is a former board member of IPI and current CEO of Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper. The delay in Hussein’s trial is apparently designed to give the judges time to decide whether Hussein’s job as a UN media officer when she was arrested will grant her immunity from prosecution. Hussein has already resigned from that position so she can fight the case. Hussein and 12 other women were arrested on 3 July in a restaurant by a group of public order police for wearing trousers. They were accused of “sensational dressing up” and threatening the values of Sudanese society under Article 152 of the 1991 Criminal Code. Ten of the women opted to plead guilty, immediately received 10 lashes and were fined 250 Sudanese pounds. Hussein, along with two others, opted to take legal counsel and fight the charges. Having adopted this route, the women could now face up to 40 lashes. Hussein’s mother came to the court on Tuesday to support her. In a move lauded by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and other human rights groups, Hussein mailed around 500 invitations to the media and rights groups, asking them to attend her trial and expected flogging. IPI’s Vuslat Dogan Sabanci spent several hours on Tuesday, after the court hearing, with Hussein and female Sudanese journalist Amal Habbani, who edits the “Tiny Issues” column in Ajrass Al Horreya newspaper and who was charged a few weeks ago with defaming the police over a 12 July story entitled “Lubna…A Case of Subduing a Woman’s Body,” in which she defended Lubna Hussein. According to a press release issued by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Amal is being charged under Article 159 of the 1991 Criminal Code, which deals with defamation. If convicted, she could face a fine of 10 million Sudanese pounds or almost $3 million Euros. Hussein told Vuslat Dogan Sabanci: “These kinds of occasions are not rare or extraordinary for Sudan. Women get arrested for improper clothing almost every day and get punished by whipping. However, it’s the first time a woman says: No I’m not guilty, I want to go to court. “I’m fighting to change this law that limits women’s clothing and all women’s rights,” Hussein told IPI. Asked by Vuslat Dogan Sabanci if she was afraid, she said: “I am not afraid of anything. I will fight for the change of the law.” Lawyers in Khartoum told IPI that the domestic and international attention attracted by the trial had played a role in the judges’ decision to postpone it without allowing the defendants to speak. Also speaking to Vuslat Dogan Sabanci, Amal Habbani said: “Since the last 20 years, women’s rights have been going backwards. In 1965 there were women in the Sudanese Parliament. However, today they are not allowed to decide what’s proper to wear.” Sudan already has a poor record on press freedom. According to a 2008 UNHCR report, journalists have in recent years faced harassment, intimidation, attacks and direct censorship at the hands of both government and non-government forces. For example, in early 2007 the private Arabic-language daily Al-Sudani was closed down for several days for violating a ban on coverage of the murder of the former editor-in-chief of the private daily Al-Wifaq, who was beheaded in 2006. And in April 2007, BBC journalist Jonah Fisher was expelled from the country because of his coverage of the region. The Sudanese parliament recently passed a new press law, which, although removing provisions that allow for journalists’ imprisonment, gives courts the right to impose unlimited fines. The amendments also give the National Press and Publication Council, which is closely linked to the President, the right to close newspapers for three days without a court ruling. A Sudanese newspaper editor, who asked not to be named, told IPI’s Vuslat Dogan Sabanci in Khartoum: “Every day before we publish the paper, the Government comes and checks what we’ve written and we have to take things out. We are under extreme pressure.” Speaking to the IPI Secretariat in Vienna, from Khartoum, Vuslat Dogan Sabanci said: “On the level of women’s rights and a free press, Sudan is really in an extreme situation. The International Press Institute and other international organisations, including women’s, can make a difference if they continue their interest in Sudan. It’s a unique place that should be under the eye of human rights campaigners.” In a statement, IPI Deputy Director Michael Kudlak said: “The Sudanese government must ensure that journalists in Sudan are able to work free of hindrance, harassment, the fear of arrest or physical attack, and censorship. Sudan’s continuing failure to uphold the pillars of a free media place in question its ability to guarantee other fundamental human rights.”

Quote: Israel News Sudanese women flogged for wearing trousers Khartoum police arrest 13 women in raid on café, whip 10 of them in public for wearing pants in violation of country's strict Islamic law Associated Press Published: 07.16.09, 09:31 / Israel News Sudanese police arrested 13 women in a raid on a café and flogged 10 of them in public for wearing trousers in violation of the country's strict Islamic law, one of those arrested said Monday. The 13 women were at a café in the capital, Khartoum, when they were detained Friday by officers from the public order police, which enforces the implementation of Sharia law in public places. In Israel Beit Shemesh rabbis issue modesty rules / Kobi Nahshoni City's religious and secular residents find booklets in their mailboxes instructing women to keep hair tied, wear long-sleeved shirts and skirts without slit Full story The force, which is similar to the Saudi religious police, randomly enforces an alcohol ban and often scolds young men and women mingling in public. One of those arrested Friday, journalist Lubna Hussein, said she is challenging the charges, which can be punishable by up to 40 lashes. "I didn't do anything wrong," Hussein said. Islamic Sharia law has been strictly implemented in Sudan since the ruling party came to power in a 1989 military coup. Public order cases usually involve quick summary trials with sentences carried out shortly afterward, as was the case with 10 of the women arrested Friday. They were flogged and fined 250 Sudanese pounds, or about $120. Hussein and two other women chose to go to trial. On Monday, she was summoned for questioning and now she awaits a decision from the prosecutor on when the case could go to trial. 'Big brother is watching' Women in northern Sudan, particularly in Khartoum, dress in traditional outfits that include a shawl over their head and shoulder. Western dress is uncommon. Still, the raid on a Khartoum cafe popular with journalists and foreigners was unusual. Hussein's lawyer, Nabil Adeeb, said action by the public order police is often arbitrary and aims "from time to time to let people know that big brother is watching you." Advertisement Hussein said she decided to speak out because flogging is a practice many women endure in silence. She even sent printed invitations to the press and public figures to attend her expected trial. "Let the people see for themselves. It is not only my issue," she said. "This is retribution to thousands of girls who are facing flogging for the last 20 years because of wearing trousers," she said. "They prefer to remain silent."

Quote: Police beat women opposing Sudan dress code trial By MOHAMED OSMAN AND SARAH EL DEEB ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS photo Dozens of Sudanese women protest Tuesday Aug. 4, 2009 outside a Khartoum court where a female journalist is on trial for wearing trousers in public - a violation of the country's strict Islamic laws. Arabic slogan read as " No for public order law". Sudanese police fired tear gas and beat women protesting outside a Sudanese court Tuesday during the trial of a female journalist accused of violating the Islamic dress code by wearing trousers in public. (AP Photo/Abd Raouf) KHARTOUM, Sudan -- Sudanese police fired tear gas and beat women protesting at the trial Tuesday of a female journalist who faces a flogging for wearing trousers in public. Sudanese journalist Lubna Hussein could receive 40 lashes if found guilty of violating the country's indecency law which follows a strict interpretation of Islam. The 43-year-old says the law is un-Islamic and "oppressive," and she's trying to use her trial to rally support to change it. "I am not afraid of flogging. ... It's about changing the law," Hussein said, speaking to The Associated Press after a hearing Tuesday. Hussein said she would take the issue all the way to Sudan's constitutional court if necessary, but that if the court rules against her and orders the flogging, she's ready "to receive (even) 40,000 lashes" if that what it takes to abolish the law. Hussein was among 13 women arrested July 3 in a raid by the public order police on a popular cafe in Khartoum. Ten of the women were fined and flogged two days later. But Hussein and two others decided to go to trial. In an attempt to rally support, Hussein printed invitations to diplomats, international media, and activists to attend her trial which opened last week. She also resigned from her job in the U.N.'s public information office in Khartoum, declining the immunity that went along with the job to challenge the law. Around 100 supporters, including many women in trousers as well as others in traditional dress, protested outside the court Tuesday. Witnesses said police wielding batons beat up one of Hussein's lawyers, Manal Awad Khogali, while keeping media and cameras at bay. No injuries were immediately reported. "We are here to protest against this law that oppresses women and debases them," said one of the protesters, Amal Habani, a female columnist for the daily Ajraas Al Hurria, or Bells of Freedom in Arabic. While the police broke up the demonstration outside the Khartoum Criminal Court, the judge adjourned Hussein's trial for a month to clarify whether her resignation has been accepted by the United Nations. The 1991 indecency law was adopted by Sudan's Islamic regime which came to power after a coup led by President Omar al-Bashir in 1989. It follows a strict interpretation of Islamic law that imposes physical punishment on "those who commit an indecent act that violates public morale; or who dress indecently." Trousers are considered indecent under the law. Activists and lawyers say it is implemented arbitrarily, and leaves the definition of "indecent acts" up to the implementing police officer. Hussein said the law is unconstituational, and is not supported by Islamic text. Flogging is a common punishment for drinking and making alcohol, and whatever else the law enforcer deems indecent. Recently, a famous Sudanese singer, who took to the stage under the influence of alcohol, was flogged. "Flogging is an insult to human dignity," Hussein said. "If the (rulers) claim this is based on Islamic Shariah (law), can anyone show me a verse in the Quran or in the prophet's teachings that speak of flogging women because of their dress code?" Rabie Abdel Attie, a government spokesman, called the uproar over the case politically motivated and said only the constitutional court can decide to repeal the law. "There is no need for all that noise. There are clearly political motivations behind this thrust," he said. The public order police force patrols the streets of Khartoum, enforcing an alcohol ban and often scolding young men and women mingling in public. Hussein said many women endure the flogging in silence, because they fear the stigma associated with being tried under the indecency law. Hussein wore the same clothes Tuesday that she wore when arrested, including the dark-colored pants that authorities found offensive. She said she is required to wear the outfit to court so officials can see the clothing when making their decision. But Hussein said she's also been wearing the outfit every day, even when not in court, to highlight her case. Her trial opened last Wednesday but immediately adjourned to give her the opportunity to resign from her U.N. job. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was "deeply concerned" about Hussein's case and that flogging is a violation of international human rights standards. The U.N. Staff Union urged authorities last week not to flog Hussein, calling the punishment cruel, inhuman and degrading. --

(عدل بواسطة Hashim Badr Eldin on 08-06-2009, 09:49 PM)

Quote: Ready to take a flogging for wearing trousers Talal Osman and Nick Meo in Khartoum August 4, 2009 Turning the tables ... Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein leaves the cafe where she was arrested. Turning the tables ... Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein leaves the cafe where she was arrested. Photo: Reuters A SUDANESE journalist facing 40 lashes for wearing ‘‘indecent’’ trousers vowed on the eve of her judgment she is ready to be whipped 40,000 times in her attempt to change the harsh laws. Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein is to be judged today under Article 152 of Sudanese law, which sanctions 40 lashes for anyone ‘‘who commits an indecent act which violates public morality or wears indecent clothing’’. Mrs Hussein, who works for the media department of the United Nations Mission in Sudan, waived the immunity granted to UN workers. As the morality police crowded around her table in a Khartoum restaurant on July 3 to see what she was wearing, Mrs Hussein had no idea that she was about to a symbol for women’s rights. She had arrived at the Kawkab Elsharq Hall on a Friday night to book a cousin’s wedding reception, and while she waited she watched an Egyptian singer and sipped a Coke. She left less than an hour later under arrest as a ‘‘trouser girl’’ – humiliated in front of hundreds of people, then beaten around the head in a police van before she was hauled before a court to face a likely sentence of 40 lashes for the ‘‘sin’’ of not wearing traditional Islamic dress. The officials who tried to humiliate her expected her to beg for mercy, as most of their victims do. Instead she turned the tables on them. In court today Mrs Hussein will dare judges to have her flogged, as she makes a stand for women’s rights in one of Africa’s most conservative nations. She has become an overnight heroine for thousands of women in Africa and the Middle East, who are flooding her email in-box with supportive messages. To the men who feel threatened by her she is an enemy of public morals, to be denounced in the mosques and newspapers’ letter pages. As she recounted her ordeal in Khartoum on the weekend, Mrs Hussein, a widow in her late thirties who works as a journalist and UN press officer, managed to crack jokes, despite the real prospect that in a couple of days she will be flogged with a camel-hair whip in a public courtyard where anyone who chooses may watch the spectacle. ‘‘Flogging is a terrible thing – very painful and a humiliation for the victim,’’ she said. ‘‘But I am not afraid of being flogged. I will not back down. ‘‘I want to stand up for the rights of women, and now the eyes of the world are on this case I have a chance to draw attention to the plight of women in Sudan.’’ Like many other women in the capital, Mrs Hussein fell foul of Sudan’s Public Order Police, hated groups of young puritans employed by the Government to confront drinkers of alcohol and women who, in their view, are insufficiently demure. Despite their claims of moral superiority, they have a reputation for dishonesty and for demanding sexual favours from the women they arrest. Mrs Hussein declined to admit her guilt and insisted on her right to go before a judge. She has received death threats and since her first court appearance she has not slept at home, moving between the houses of relatives. She believes that her mobile telephone calls have been screened by the securi

(عدل بواسطة Hashim Badr Eldin on 08-06-2009, 10:06 PM)

Quote: Protests at Sudan woman's trial Cannot play media.You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version Lubna Ahmed Hussein joins protesters in Khartoum Police have fired tear gas at supporters of a Sudanese woman charged with wearing "indecent clothing", shortly after her trial was postponed. Lubna Ahmed Hussein says she was arrested for wearing trousers. She has adopted a defiant attitude, urging authorities to try her although she faces up to 40 lashes in public. Earlier, she told the BBC she was not afraid, saying: "Flogging is not pain, flogging is an insult to humans, women and religions." Ms Hussein has resigned from a UN job that would have given her immunity to take on the case - indicating she wants it to become a test case for women's rights in Sudan. "If the court's decision is that I be flogged, I want this flogging in public," she told the BBC's Today programme. FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME Cannot play media.You do not have the correct version of the flash player. Download the correct version More from Today programme But Ms Hussein's trial in the capital, Khartoum, was delayed for a month after the judge said he needed to verify if she was immune from prosecution because of her former position at the UN. After her hearing was adjourned, Ms Hussein said the authorities wanted to delay her trial until the fuss around it went away. Scores of women protested outside the court, some holding up banners saying "No return to the dark ages". Then the riot police drove them away, reports the BBC's James Copnall in Sudan. First they marched up the road, banging their batons against their plastic shields, and later they fired tear gas and charged the protesters. One of Ms Hussein's lawyers, Manal Khawajali, complained that she was beaten up by police outside the court. 'My message' Ms Hussein was arrested in a restaurant in the capital with other women earlier this month for wearing clothing deemed "indecent" under Khartoum's Sharia law. ANALYSIS James Copnall James Copnall, BBC News, Khartoum In theory Khartoum is governed by a relatively strict interpretation of Islamic law. But the law is not meant to apply to non-Muslims, following a 2005 peace deal between the largely Muslim north and the essentially non-Muslim south. Although Lubna Hussein says she is facing prosecution for "indecent clothing" for wearing trousers, it is not unusual to see women wearing them. Southern girls wear tight blue jeans and no headscarves in shopping malls; Muslim women too can be seen in trousers, though usually only in the sort of cafe frequented by the elite and foreigners. From time to time southerners are arrested for producing illegal alcohol. She said 10 of the women arrested with her, including non-Muslims, each received 10 lashes and a fine. "Before police caught me, there are maybe 20,000 girls and women getting flogged for dress reasons," she said. If this could happen in a restaurant in Khartoum, imagine what the situation must be for women in Darfur, Ms Hussein said. "This is my message." Ms Hussein and two other women asked for a lawyer, delaying their trials. Under a 2005 peace deal between the mainly Muslim north and the largely Christian and animist south, Sharia law is not supposed to be applied to non-Muslims living in the capital. Our correspondent says it is not that unusual to see women - both Muslim and non-Muslim - wearing trousers in the city. Ms Hussein says she has done nothing wrong under Sharia law, but could fall foul of a paragraph in Sudanese criminal law which forbids indecent clothing.

Quote: Sudanese woman risks flogging over 'indecent' trousers Tristan McConnell in Nairobi Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein (Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images) Sudanese journalist Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein says she will give up her immunity as a UN worker A woman journalist is taking on the feared Sudanese morality police to challenge the country’s draconian laws on public dress, insisting on being tried for the crime of wearing trousers in public and risking a punishment of 40 lashes. Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein was at a private party in a restaurant in an upmarket district of Khartoum on July 3 when a group of public order policemen — given the task of enforcing strict Islamic rectitude — burst in. They detained her and a dozen other women for wearing trousers, considered indecent according to the law. Ten of those arrested, including women from the Christian south of the country, were summoned to a police station two days later and were each flogged ten times, according to Ms Hussein. She said that she avoided summary punishment by calling a lawyer but was ordered to appear before a judge yesterday. Ms Hussein, who is also a public information officer for the United Nations Mission in Sudan, turned up to court yesterday expecting to be fined up to 250 Sudanese pounds (£64) and sentenced to 40 lashes. Instead, she was told that her status as a UN employee granted her immunity from the flogging. She promptly quit and demanded that the case carry on. Related Links * One year on: how Gillian Gibbons learnt her lesson * Aid switch to help fragile countries “I wish to resign from the UN. I wish this court case to continue,” she told Judge Mudathir Rashid and a packed courtroom. The judge adjourned the case until Tuesday. A spokesperson for the UN mission refused to comment on Ms Hussein’s case, calling it “a personal issue”. However, Ban Ki Moon, the UN Secretary-General, referred to the case at a New York press conference, saying he was “deeply concerned” and denouncing flogging as a violation of human rights. “The UN will take every effort to ensure that the rights of its staff members are protected,” he said. At the time of her arrest Ms Hussein was wearing long, loose dark green trousers, a colourful thigh-length shirt and a patterned green hijab or Islamic headscarf. She wore the same outfit to her court appearance yesterday. Apparently determined to extract maximum publicity, Ms Hussein said that she had invited 500 supporters and journalists to the trial, to raise awareness of “dozens, hundreds, and maybe thousands flogged in public order courts because of their dress, day after day, month after month, and year after year”. Nabil Adib Abdullah, her defence lawyer, told reporters: “First of all she wants to show she is innocent, and using her immunity will not prove that. Second, she wants to fight the law.” He called her trial a test case for Sudan. In a posting on her Facebook page Ms Hussein said: “The problem lies in Clause 152 of the criminal law, which sentences \ to 40 lashes or a fine, or both, for improper dress, without stipulating what exactly that is.” After the hearing she said that her aim was to have that clause annulled. “This is my battle. This article is against the constitution and even against Islamic law.” Dozens of women protested outside the court waving placards saying “a woman is not for flogging” and “lashing people is against human rights”. Even though Ms Hussein is casting her case as a fight for women’s rights the Sudanese authorities have other reasons to persecute her. She writes a regular column called “Men Talk” in the left-wing al-Sahafa newspaper, founded by her late husband, in which she is frequently critical of the hardline Islamist regime of President Bashir. Mr Bashir, who celebrated two decades in power on June 30, seized power in a bloodless coup in 1989 and has ruled Africa’s largest country with an iron fist ever since. Mohamed Khaled, of the Arab Network for Human Rights, told The Times: “Lubna’s case is not about Sharia, it is a political case. She has criticised the Government and the extremists and Islamists who dominate the country.”

Quote: أكد الرئيس الفرنسي نيكولا ساركوزي الخميس في رسالة إلى الأمينة العامة للحزب الشيوعي الفرنسي ماري جورج بوفي إن فرنسا ستساعد الصحافية الشابة لبنى أحمد الحسين، التي حكم عليها بالجلد 40 جلدة في بلدها بسبب ارتدائها البنطلون، في معركتها. وقال ساركوزي في رسالته إلى ماري جورج بوفي التي نبهته للقضية "استطيع أن أؤكد لكم أن فرنسا ستستمر في جهودها إلى جانب هذه الشابة السودانية الشجاعة وسنواصل العمل معها لمساعدتها في معركتها التي تشرفها والتي تعتبر معركة كل امرأة". وأكد ساركوزي في رسالته التي أصدرها الاليزيه أنه يشاطر النائب مشاعرها وقلقها الكبير حيال ما يشكله هجوم غير متسامح على حقوق المرأة، حسب تعبيره. وكان ساركوزي قد طلب أيضا من سفير بلاده في السودان دعوة الصحافية إلى الإقامة في فرنسا. يذكر أن محاكمة الصحافية قد أرجئت إلى 7 سبتمبر/أيلول. راديو سوا

Quote: متهمة بارتداء ملابس غير محتشمة تأجيل قضية الصحفية لبنى أحمد حسين أسبوعاً الخرطوم -(رويترز) : مثلت امرأة سودانية تواجه عقوبة الجلد 40 جلدة أمام محكمة اكتظت بمؤيديها امس الأربعاء ضمن ما وصفه محاميها بأنها قضية اختبار لقوانين الاحتشام في السودان. وكانت هناك مشاهد فوضى فيما كانت الصحفية لبنى حسين التي تعمل في (وكالة إعلام)الأمم المتحدة تحضر الجلسة مرتدية نفس السروال الفضفاض الأخضر الذي كانت ترتديه عند اعتقالها بتهمة عدم الاحتشام. وكانت (لبنى احمد) حسين قد اجتذبت الأنظار من خلال الدعاية لقضيتها ودعت الصحفيين لجلسات المحاكمة . وأرجئ نظر القضية امس حيث ناقش المحامون ما إذا كان وضعها كموظفة في الأمم المتحدة يعطيها حصانة قانونية. وعقب الجلسة قال نبيل أديب عبد الله محامي الدفاع إن (لبنى احمد) حسين وافقت على الاستقالة من الأمم المتحدة قبل الجلسة المقبلة في الرابع من أغسطس آب لضمان استمرار القضية. وأضاف عبد الله متحدثا للصحفيين أنها تريد في المقام الاول إظهار براءتها التامة واستخدام حصانتها لن يثبت ذلك. وقال إن لبنى احمد حسين مستعدة لمواجهة العقوبة القصوى عن مخالفة ارتداء ملابس غير محتشمة في العلن وهي 40 جلدة ودفع غرامة غير محددة. وقبل الجلسة قالت لبنى لرويترز إنها اعتقلت في مطلع يوليو تموز حينما داهمت الشرطة حفلة كانت تحضرها في مطعم بحي الرياض في الخرطوم.