KHARTOUM – Police used teargas yesterday to disperse protesters rallying in support of a Sudanese woman facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public, a case that has become a public test of Sudan’s indecency laws.
Lubna Hussein, a former journalist and UN press officer, was arrested with 12 other women during a party at a Khartoum restaurant in July and charged with being indecently dressed.
Women’s groups have complained that the law gives no clear definition of indecent dress, leaving the decision of whether to arrest a woman up to individual police officers.
Dozens of men and ululating women gathered outside a Khartoum court room where Ms Hussein appeared yesterday, carrying banners with the message “No return to the dark ages” and “Lubna’s case is a case for all Sudanese women”.
Speaking after the hearing, Ms Hussein said the judge had adjourned her case until September 7th. “They want to check with the UN whether I have immunity from prosecution,” she said.
Ms Hussein said she resigned from her UN job last week to give up any legal immunity so she could pursue the case to prove her innocence and challenge the decency law.
In New York a UN official said the UN had told Sudan that Ms Hussein was immune from legal proceedings. It said the issue of whether she had resigned was irrelevant as she was a UN employee at the time of the alleged offence.
In cases where a UN staff member is alleged to have committed a criminal offence, governments are required to ask the body to decide whether to waive immunity, its spokeswoman Marie Okabe said. “In the present case, the United Nations has not received any request for the waiver of the staff member’s immunity,” Ms Okabe said.
During the rare and short unauthorised rally outside the court yesterday protesters flashed V-for-victory signs and received supportive hoots from passing cars.
Armed riot police advanced towards them, beating their shields with batons. Officers later fired teargas canisters into the air, forcing the crowd to disperse. – (Reuters)