This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/africa/8182658.stm

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Sudan 'trousers woman' on trial Protests at Sudan woman's trial
(about 3 hours later)
The trial of a Sudanese woman charged with wearing "indecent" clothing is due to resume in the capital, Khartoum. Police have fired tear gas at supporters of a Sudanese woman charged with wearing "indecent clothing" shortly before her trial was postponed.
After an initial hearing last week journalist Lubna Ahmed Hussein left her job at the UN which would have given her immunity from prosecution. The trial in the capital Khartoum was delayed for a month.
Ms Hussein, who claims she was arrested for wearing trousers, said she wanted to carry on with the trial because she wanted to get the law changed. Under Khartoum's Sharia law, Lubna Ahmed Hussein could face up to 40 lashes in public if convicted.
Under Sudanese law she could face 40 lashes if she is found guilty. Earlier, she told the BBC she was not afraid to be flogged publicly, saying: "Flogging is not pain, flogging is an insult to humans, women and religions."
Ms Hussein invited more than 500 people to the initial hearing on 29 July. She says she was wearing trousers when arrested and has resigned from a UN job that would have given her immunity to take on the case.
"I wish to resign from the UN, I wish this court case to continue," she told a packed courtroom. "If the court's decision is that I be flogged, I want this flogging in public," she told the BBC's Today programme.
Generating publicity FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME class="" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/default.stm">More from Today programme
She says she has invited 500 people to attend the hearing.
She was arrested in a restaurant in the capital with other women earlier this month for wearing "indecent" clothing.She was arrested in a restaurant in the capital with other women earlier this month for wearing "indecent" clothing.
She said 10 of the women arrested with her, including non-Muslims, each received 10 lashes and a fine.She said 10 of the women arrested with her, including non-Muslims, each received 10 lashes and a fine.
"Before police caught me, there are maybe 20,000 girls and women getting flogged for dress reasons," she said.
If this could happen in a restaurant in Khartoum, imagine what the situation must be for women in Darfur, Ms Hussein said.
"This is my message."
Ms Hussein and two other women asked for a lawyer, delaying their trials.Ms Hussein and two other women asked for a lawyer, delaying their trials.
Under a 2005 peace deal between the mainly Muslim north and the largely Christian and animist south, Sharia law is not supposed to be applied to non-Muslims living in the capital.Under a 2005 peace deal between the mainly Muslim north and the largely Christian and animist south, Sharia law is not supposed to be applied to non-Muslims living in the capital.
Ms Hussein says she has done nothing wrong under Sharia law, but could fall foul of a paragraph in Sudanese criminal law which forbids indecent clothing.Ms Hussein says she has done nothing wrong under Sharia law, but could fall foul of a paragraph in Sudanese criminal law which forbids indecent clothing.
"I want to change this law, because hitting is not human, and also it does not match with Sharia law," she told the BBC.
The BBC's James Copnall in Khartoum says Ms Hussein is intent on attracting the most attention possible to her case.