Khartoum: The trial of a Sudanese woman journalist who faces 40 lashes for wearing trousers was adjourned on Tuesday as police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators outside the Khartoum court.
The judge decided to delay the trial to September to determine whether Lubna Ahmed al-Hussein, who also works with the United Nations, has legal immunity, defence lawyer Jalal al-Sayyid said.
Hussein, who is in her 30s, has been charged with public indecency after she was arrested last month along with 12 other women who were wearing trousers at a Khartoum restaurant.
Hussein has said that she wants to be tried, in defiance of a law that decrees whipping for wearers of 'indecent' clothes, and told a hearing last week that she wished to waive her UN immunity.
But in an apparent disagreement within her defence team, a lawyer argued that she had immunity and asked the judge to ignore Hussein's wishes, Sayyid said.
The judge will defer the issue to the Sudanese foreign ministry ahead of her next court date on September 7, he said.
Police dispersed hundreds of women and activists from Sudanese opposition political parties who demonstrated in support of Hussein outside the court house after they tried blocking a road.