Sudanese "Trousers" Woman Jailed

September 7, 2009.

See full article at:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8241894.stm

Sudanese 'trousers woman' jailed.

A Sudanese woman has been jailed for a month after refusing to pay a fine for "dressing indecently" by wearing trousers, her lawyers say. Lubna Ahmed Hussein did not want to "give the verdict any legitimacy" by paying the fine of about $200 (£122), her lawyer, Nabil Adib, told the BBC ( . . . )

"She thinks she was unfairly tried and convicted, and was not given a proper chance to put her defence case." Mr Adib said Ms Hussein would appeal to both the Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court.

Kamal Omar, another of Ms Hussein's lawyers, told the AFP news agency his client had been taken to the women's prison in Omdurman ( . . . )

Earlier, at least 40 protesters were held by police outside the courthouse in the Sudanese capital. Some of them were women reportedly wearing trousers in support for Ms Hussein. Our correspondent saw one woman being hit eight or nine times by police with truncheons. All the protesters were later released on bail ( . . . )

Ms Hussein's supporters were heckled by Islamists, who tore up some of the women's homemade signs, says our correspondent. The presence of diplomats and human rights activists inside the court, and the protests outside, show that the trial has become a test case for women's rights in Sudan ( . . . ) 

In a column published in the UK's Guardian newspaper on Friday, Ms Hussein wrote: "When I think of my trial, I pray that my daughters will never live in fear of these police... We will only be secure once the police protect us and these laws are repealed."
James Morton
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