NY Times: A Fine but No Lash for Sudan Woman Who Wore Pants, by Jeffrey Gettleman:
NAIROBI, Kenya — A Sudanese court on Monday decided not to lash a woman for wearing trousers in public but convicted her of violating the country’s decency laws and fined her the equivalent of $200.
The woman, Lubna Hussein, an outspoken journalist who recently worked for the United Nations, was facing 40 lashes in a case that generated widespread interest inside and outside Sudan.
Mrs. Hussein, 34, will appeal the sentence, her lawyers said on Monday, and she still insists that she has a right to wear pants in public.
Sudan is partly governed by Islamic law, which calls for women to dress modestly. But on Monday, dozens of women — many wearing pants — gathered in front of the courthouse in Khartoum, Sudan’s capital, where Mrs. Hussein’s case was being heard, to express their solidarity. Many Sudanese women have said the law is vague and discriminates against women. . . .