Sudan models spared flogging, fined for "indecency"

A Sudanese court convicted seven men of indecency on Wednesday after police accused them of wearing makeup during a fashion show in Khartoum, their lawyer said.

The men, amateur models at the "Sudanese Next Top Model Fashion Show" in June, were arrested by the public order police, a body known for its crackdowns on perceived indecent dress and drinking in the Muslim north, one defendant told Reuters.

All seven were found guilty on Wednesday and each fined 200 Sudanese pounds ($80), as was a woman who faced the same charge for applying the makeup, said lawyer Nabil Adib.

"The court thought that they were indecently dressed ... The judge thought that wearing makeup could be offensive for men and allowing a woman to put makeup on men was against the law," said Adib.

The lawyer said he had argued in court that men, including religious preachers, regularly wore makeup for appearances on Sudan's state television station.

Under Sudanese law, anyone found guilty of "indecency" or convicted of wearing clothes that are deemed indecent can be fined 200 pounds and sentenced to 40 lashes.

The law forbidding "indecent clothing" was imposed in 1991, two years after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir seized power in a coup backed by Islamists.

It was brought under the spotlight last year when a court ordered a female journalist, Lubna Ahmed Hussein, to be flogged for wearing "indecent trousers." That sentence was commuted to a fine after a public outcry.

"The judge said that what happened is against the law and the traditions of the Sudanese people, so he made the punishment a fine," defense lawyer Adam Bakr Hassab told AFP after the verdict was issued.

"It is not correct. But now it is a reality, it became a decision. There is no way to avoid this punishment. We will pay the fine and do our appeal later," he said, speaking in English.

Those convicted on Wednesday had been among more than two dozen people arrested in Khartoum in June as as they emerged from the capital's first ever mixed-gender fashion show.

"Different things happened that night -- modeling, dancing, singing. Even having men and women at the same place is considered criminal," the lawyer said.

The fashion show was staged at a popular Khartoum club in front of families and friends of the models.

At the time, male models donned Western outfits, parading with their shirts unbuttoned, while their female counterparts showed off classical party clothes.

"There are some rights we have to protect (and) if we keep silent it means this will be a precedent, and then other people will be punished," Hassab said.

"So we have to appeal to see what the higher court says. It will be a precedent or it will be cancelled."

Khartoum and the rest of Sudan's north is governed by Islamic law.