Sudanese court delays ruling on indecent clothing case
December 18, 2017 (KHARTOUM) – A Sudanese court Monday decided to postpone until Thursday a verdict in the trial of a Sudanese journalist accused of wearing indecent clothes.
She was arrested on 10 December after attending the hearing of 24 women charged with indecency for wearing pants during a private women-only party.
After hearing the parties, the Judge decided to delay the ruling until next Thursday upon the request of the defence to hear three witnesses including the director of the Center For Training And Protection Of Women And Child’s Rights (SEEMA) Nahid Jabrallah, and two other people who were present at the moment of Wini’s arrest.
In her statements before the judge of Aldaym Court Kamal Ali al-Zaki, Wini denied the charges of indecent clothing stressing she is a “Muslim and she knows her religion well”
“What I wear is not an indecent dress, but a dress worn by all the girls on the public street.” She further confirmed that her head was half covered at the moment of arrest.
In a video posted on the social media, Wini explained that the police officer who arrested her said he did not like the way she walked.
The U.S. embassy in Khartoum on Sunday said concerned by the arrest of the female journalist on a charge of indecent dress and recalled Khartoum commitment to protect basic freedoms after the lift of economic sanctions on Sudan.
The diplomatic mission further pointed to the visit of U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John J. Sullivan to Khartoum last November and his call for “concrete and demonstrable progress through better policies and improved laws” before to removal of remaining sanctions on Sudan including the State Sponsor of Terrorism designation.
(ST)