Woman reporter faces 40 lashes for 'indecency'

A Sudanese woman journalist was preparing to be flogged 40 times in Khartoum yesterday for wearing "indecent" clothes, with 10 women already whipped for similar offences against Islamic law.

Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, who writes for the left-wing Al-Sahafa newspaper and works for the media department of the United Nations Mission in Sudan, was arrested in Khartoum earlier this month after being caught wearing trousers.

"I received a telephone call from the authorities saying I must appear at 10 a.m. (0700 GMT) on Wednesday in front of the judge," Ms Hussein said on Tuesday.

"It is important that people know what is happening," Ms Hussein said in an invitation to journalists to attend her court appearance and flogging.

"They will lash me 40 times, and also fine me 250 Sudanese pounds ($100)."

Ms Hussein said she was at a restaurant on July 3 when police came in and ordered 13 women wearing trousers to follow them to the police station.

Ten of the women were summoned to a police station two days later and were lashed 10 times each, according to Ms Hussein, who wears a hijab or Islamic headscarf. The women whipped earlier this month included some from animist and Christian south Sudan where the Muslim north's Islamic or sharia law does not apply.

Police have also cracked down on another woman journalist, Amal Habbani, after she wrote an article condemning Ms Hussein's treatment. Ms Habbani wrote an article for Ajrass Al-Horreya newspaper following the arrests entitled "Lubna, a case of subduing a woman's body."

"I am waiting for a decision," Ms Habbani said after she was charged with defaming police, a charge which can carry a fine of up to several hundred thousand dollars.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said the charge against Ms Habbani stemmed from her claim that Ms Hussein's arrest was "not about fashion but a political tactic to intimidate and terrorise opponents."