Sudanese ‘indecent’ female journalist freed unexpectedly
September 8, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese female journalist jailed yesterday after being convicted of indecent dressing was released well before her one month jail sentence expired.
The ex-employee at the United Nations Mission Sudan (UNMIS) refused to pay the fine saying it is an admittance of guilt adding that she also wants to use the opportunity to explore conditions in the women prison.
Her choice to be imprisoned reflected her defiant attitude since she was arrested by Public Order Police (POP) last July, along with a dozen other girls and charged with dressing inappropriately.
Hussein with a couple of the detainees refused to concede to the charges and asked for a full blown trial with the presence of her attorney.
She also resigned from her post at the UNMIS to waive her immunity bestowed upon employees of the world body. However, the judge postponed the hearing until yesterday until an opinion on her immunity is received from the Sudanese foreign ministry.
Witnesses at the trial yesterday said that the judge appeared to be in a rush to conclude the hearing and issue a ruling.
She proceeded to the women’s prison in Omdurman yesterday after refusing to pay the fine.
However, today the head of the journalist union Mohyideen Titawi announced that they have paid the fine and received a judge order to release Hussein.
The journalist expressed dissatisfaction at the move by the union saying she did not ask for it and that she instructed her friends and family not to pay it.
Titawi said that the union paid the fine because it had a responsibility to “protect journalists when they are in prison”.
“No journalist should be jailed under any circumstances….the case is now over” he said.
Many journalists and observers told Sudan Tribune from Khartoum that they believe that Titawi was nudged by the government into pay the fine to avoid escalation of the international public relations nightmare created by the case.
“She was a journalist when she was arrested for indecency. Where was Titawi and his union? Did he just now discover that she is a journalist and intervened on her behalf?” a journalist who asked not to be named told Sudan tribune.
“This is just a face saving move by the government and Titawi was its tool. They [government] don’t want to appear like they lost the battle with Lubna. The fact of the matter that they lost miserably in this scandal,” he added.
The Sudanese journalist Union is widely viewed as a pro-government body. The group was heavily criticized for failing to stand up to the government on press censorship.
The United Nations human rights office said Hussein’s conviction violated international law.
“Lubna Hussein’s case is in our view emblematic of a wider pattern of discrimination and application of discriminatory laws against women in Sudan,” U.N. human rights spokesperson Rupert Colville told a news briefing in Geneva.
“No defense witnesses were heard. It is not clear there is a chance to appeal,” he told Reuters.
The case of the Sudanese journalist is not uncommon but the latter has worked to make it public by printing invitations to her trials and showing pictures of how she was dressed when arrested by POP.
(ST)