WUNRN
LATEST UPDATE: http://morningstarnews.org/2015/07/two-young-christian-women-in-sudan-fined-for-indecent-dress/
SUDAN - 2 YOUNG CHRISTIAN WOMEN FINED FOR “INDECENT
DRESS”- REMAINING 8 RELEASED ON BAIL STILL CHARGED, AWAIT VERDICT
July 21, 2015 - By Sudan Correspondent
Arrested Sudan Student-Ferdoos Eltoum, Age 19 – Photo: Morning
Star News
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Amnesty International Article:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr54/2046/2015/en/ - Article Available in Arabic, French, Spanish, & English
Sudan Women Students Risk Flogging for “Indecent”
Clothing
9 July 2015 - The Public Order Police have charged 10 female
Christian students with "indecent dress” and subjected them to verbal
abuse during their detention. The charge carries the punishment of flogging.
Women Living Under Muslim Laws – WLUML
Sudan – Call for Action – Women Students Risk Flogging for “Indecent Clothing”
The Public Order Police have
charged 10 female Christian students with "indecent dress” and subjected
them to verbal abuse during their detention. The charge carries the punishment
of flogging.
The Public Order Police (POP) arrested 12
female Christian students on 25 June. Ten of them were charged with
"indecent dress", under Article 152 of Sudan’s 1991 Criminal Act,
while the other two were released. The POP subjected the students to degrading
treatment and humiliating verbal abuse during their detention. Article 152 of
the 1991 Criminal Act gives POP extensive powers to arrest any person for
"indecent dress" and the punishment if found guilty is 40 lashes, or
a fine, or with both. In practice the law is used exclusively against women.
The Public Order Police stopped the 12
students at 10 pm in front of the Evangelical Baptist Church in Khartoum North,
where they had attended a ceremony, and took them to a local police station in
Khartoum North.
According to information obtained by Amnesty
International, the students are between 17 and 23 years old, and all are
Christians, originally from the war-torn Nuba Mountains in South Kordofan
state. At the time of their arrest, some were wearing trousers and others
skirts. Two of the students were released about four hours after their arrest
and the remaining 10 were released on bail at around 10 am on 27 June. The 10
were taken to court on 28 June where the charges against them were confirmed
and court dates set. One student, Fardos Al Toum, 19, appeared in court on 6
July, wearing another dress deemed indecent by the judge who, disregarding any
due process, immediately sentenced her to a fine of 500 Sudanese pounds ($83)
or a month in prison. Her fine was paid by activists and her supporters and she
will appear in court again in relation to the original charge. Another student,
aged 17, appeared in court on 7 July and, because of her age, was transferred
to a Juvenile Court.
The other nine students: Fardos Al Toum, 19;
Ishraga James, 20; Uthan Omer Eljaily, 22; Diana Yagoub Abd Alrahman, 19; Seema
Ali Osman, 20; Inas Mohamed Elkomani, 23; Rehab Omer Kakoum,18; Nasra Omer
Kakoum, 20; and Wigdan Abdallah Salih – will appear in court on 9, 13, 16 and
17 July according to their lawyer.
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