Following are excerpts from footage of a woman receiving a lashing at a Khartoum police station, which aired on the Internet, and an interview with Khartoum Governor Dr. Abd Al-Rahman Al-Khadhr, which aired on Blue Nile TV on December 12, 2010
To view this clip on MEMRI TV, visit http://www.memri.org/legacy/clip/0/0/0/0/0/0/2722.
Footage of a Sudanese woman being lashed by uniformed policeman at a Khartoum police station. The crowd of men gathered around laugh at the process. [...]
Governor of Khartoum, Dr. Abd Al-Rahman Al-Khadr: "What was aired was the implementation of an Islamic punishment. The sentence of a court of the state was carried out in that manner. We should distinguish between two things: the punishment in and of itself, and the way it was carried out, about which something might be said.
"We should consider the more important issue in this case – our penal code is in keeping with Islam, and the shari'a is the main source of our legislation. Islamic punishments are carried out to purge the perpetrator. [...]
"The people who made this public could have concealed the girl's face. There are many techniques that allow you to do so. Things that were kept hidden were exposed by this harmful media publication. This proves that their goal was not to discuss the crime or the punishment. Rather, this is a case of political harassment." [...]
Interviewer: "This is not a case of a woman wearing pants, is it?"
Dr. Abd Al-Rahman Al-Khadr: "No, it is not. I did not mention the nature of the crime, because I do not want to slander her. It has to do with immoral activity and prostitution. The verdict was issued by judges, not by the police." [...]
