Sudanese teen gets 50 lashes for 'indecent' skirt
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From the Associated Press:
A 16-year old Christian girl from southern Sudan said Friday she was lashed 50 times for wearing a skirt deemed indecent by authorities in the north who enforce a strict version of Islamic law.
Silva Kashif said she was arrested by a plain-clothed policeman in a Khartoum market last week for wearing a skirt beneath the knee. She was convicted of offending public morality and received 50 lashes on the spot.
"I was treated like a criminal," Kashif said in a telephone interview. "I am confused what to wear. The trousers were an issue. My skirt was beneath the knee. What more can I do? I am Christian. My tribe and my customs permit me to dress like this."
Human rights lawyer Azhari al-Haj said a legal team plans to sue the authorities for procedural mistakes and to exonerate Kashif.
Kashif's ordeal follows the high profile case of Lubna Hussein, a female journalist who was sentenced to 40 lashes for wearing trousers deemed indecent. Hussein's sentence was reduced to a fine, and she is now lobbying to change the morality laws.
Sudan's indecency law allows flogging as a punishment. Human rights campaigners say the law is vaguely defined and arbitrarily enforced -- and often incorrectly applied to non-Muslims such as south Sudanese Christians living in the capital.