KHARTOUM, June 15 (AFP) - A group of 25 students in Sudan were
publicly flogged this week after a riverside picnic where some girls
wore trousers was ruled immoral and riotous, according to their
lawyer. ·
According to outspoken opposition lawyer Ghazi Suleiman, the
students, including the girls, were flogged outside a Khartoum
courthouse after their defence counsel failed to convince the judge
that there was nothing unusual about the picnic and that wearing
trousers by girls could not be regarded as inappropriate behavior. ·

The students had each been sentenced to 40 lashes as well as
fines. ·

An Islamic fundamentalist-backed regime has held sway in
Khartoum since a military coup brought President Omar al-Beshir to
power 10 years ago, but the largest nation in Africa is divided over
the imposition of strict Moslem Sharia law, one of the issues
underlying civil war in the south. ·

Public order police raided the Sunday picnic and, after a clash,
took the students to a police station where they were held for six
hours before Suleiman secured their bail. ·

A Public Order Tribunal on Monday sentenced all of the students
to the floggings and fines of up to 50,000 Sudanese pounds (around
20 dollars).