Mick Hartley

Lubna Ahmed al Hussein, who works for a left-wing newspaper and the media department of the UN Mission in Sudan, was arrested earlier this month for "indecent" clothes.

Ten women have already been whipped for similar offences against Islamic law.
"It is important that people know what is happening," Ms Hussein said in an invitation to journalists to attend her looming court appearance and flogging.

"They will lash me 40 times, and also fine me 250 Sudanese pounds (UK£61)."

Ms Hussein said she was at a restaurant on July 3 when police came in and ordered 13 women wearing trousers to follow them to the police station.

Ten of the women were summoned to a police station two days later and were lashed 10 times each, according to the journalist, who wears a hijab or Islamic headscarf.

The women whipped earlier this month included some from animist and Christian south Sudan, where the Muslim north's Islamic or sharia law does not apply.

Police have also cracked down on another woman journalist, Amal Habbani, after she wrote an article condemning Ms Hussein's treatment.

Ms Habbani wrote an article for Ajrass Al Horreya newspaper following the arrests entitled "Lubna, a case of subduing a woman's body".

"I am waiting for a decision," Ms Habbani said after she was charged with defaming police, a charge which can carry a fine of up to several hundred thousand dollars.

The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information said the charge stemmed from Ms Habbani's claim that Ms Hussein's arrest was "not about fashion but a political tactic to intimidate and terrorise opponents".