A Sudanese award-winning female journalist Amal Habani who was convicted by a court to pay a fine of 10,000 SDG or a jail term of four months on Monday has been released on Tuesday.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj this afternoon, Habani’s husband Shawqi Abdel-Azim said his wife was released today after activists and journalists contributed and paid the 10,000 SDG fine. Habani spent the night in the Women’s Prison in Omdurman.
Habani, winner of an Amnesty International prize for reporting on human rights in Sudan, was found guilty in a case filed by a security officer who accused her of preventing him from doing his job during the March trial of three rights activists.
Habani had earlier refused to pay the fine despite offers by other activists to pay for her and instead said she would serve the jail term.But her husband Abdel-Azim said she finally accepted to be released on fine after pressure from fellow activists.
Abdel-Azim condemned the sentence and said they would appeal to the high court. He pointed out the family would continue to support Habani’s activism.