UPDATE: Sudan: Lubna Hussein's trial postponed until 7 September
"They want to check with the UN whether I have immunity from prosecution," she told Reuters news agency on Tuesday. "I don't know why they are doing this because I have already resigned from the United Nations. I think they just want to delay the case."
Al-Hussein, who was working as a press officer for the UN when she was arrested, has tried to waive the immunity to be able to challenge the law regulating women's clothing. But Jalal al-Sayyid, a defense lawyer, said that there was a disagreement within her legal team, with one lawyer arguing that she had immunity and asking the judge to ignore al-Hussein's wishes. (Al Jazeera)
Dozens of protesters rallied outside the Khartoum court in support of Hussein who is facing 40 lashes for wearing trousers in public, a case that has become a public test of Sudan’s indecency laws. Ululating women outside the courtroom carried banners and headbands with the message ”No return to the dark ages” and shouted slogans against laws which ban dress deemed indecent. Riot police advanced towards the crowd, beating their shields with batons, to try to disperse them. One officer fired what appeared to be blank rounds into the air, a Reuters witness said. ”We are against this law. It is against women, against Islam and against human rights,” said Zainab Badradin, one of the women in the crowd. (FT)