08 Sep 2009

The Sudanese Union of Journalists has secured the release of a female reporter jailed over refusing to pay a fine for wearing "indecent" trousers in public.

Lubna Ahmed Hussein was freed on Tuesday after spending a day in detention. The union paid fine, the equivalent of $200, amid international outcry over the arrest of a dozen women in a restaurant for breaking decency laws.

A court ruling on Monday found the journalist guilty but spared her the punishment of 40 lashes, the customary punishment in Sudan for clothing deemed indecent.

The former UN media officer was arrested along with 12 other women in July in a restaurant in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, for wearing a pair of green slacks. She appeared at a Khartoum court attired in the same pair.

Ten of the women have since been subjected to floggings by police.

Hussein has resigned from her UN post to stand trial and remains defiant over the charges, vowing to appeal the sentence.

The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday condemned the sentencing as a breach of international law and fair trials noting that the problem went deeper.

UN spokesman Rupert Colville said another concern was the possible arbitrary nature of arrests, since "the criminal code does not define what constitutes indecent dress and leaves wide discretion to police officers."


presstv