Woman spared whipping for "indecency"

       A Sudanese woman journalist was yesterday spared a whipping for wearing trousers, but a court instead fined Lubna Ahmed alHussein 500 Sudanese pounds (7,130 baht), eyewitnesses said.
       "I won't pay. I'd rather go to prison,"Ms Hussein told reporters, though her lawyers said they would try to persuade her to pay up.
       The eyewitnesses, speaking as they emerged from the hearing which was barred to the press, said the court had ruled that Ms Hussein be jailed for a month if she failed to pay the fine.
       Under Sudanese law, she could have been sentenced to a maximum of 40 lashes for "indecency" after being arrested with 12 other women wearing trousers in a Khartoum restaurant in July.
       Around 100 supporters chanted slogans and waved placards saying "No to whipping!" in support of Ms Hussein as she entered the hearing in the late morning, her hair covered in a traditional Sudanese scarf.
       At least one woman was beaten by police and around 40 were arrested before police dispersed the protest amid strict security around the courtroom, an AFP correspondent at the scene reported.
       "They arrested 48 of us.Some of us were hurt and one is bleeding," a demonstrator said.Lubna Hussein Ten of the women arrested in July, including Christians,were subsequently summoned by the police and each given 10 lashes.
       Ms Hussein could have suffered similar punishment, but instead she challenged the charge and began a publicity campaign to try to get the law changed.
       Article 152 of Sudan's 1991 penal code - which came into force two years after the coup that brought President Omar al-Beshir to power - stipulates a maximum of 40 lashes for people convicted
       of wearing "indecent clothing".
       Ms Hussein could have sought legal immunity because of her role as a United Nations press officer in Khartoum.
       But she also works for the left-wing Al-Sahafa newspaper, and said earlier she wanted a trial in order to challenge the law, and that she wished to waive her UN immunity.
       "I'm ready for anything to happen.I'm absolutely not afraid of the verdict,"she said."If I'm sentenced to be whipped,or to anything else, I will appeal. 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."
       Ms Hussein's case has triggered outrage at home and abroad.