ICC Note:
Meriam Ibrahim, a Christian mother pregnant with her second child, has been detained in a Sudanese prison since February and now faces a death sentence for her conversion from Islam to Christianity. Considered a Muslim from birth, Ibrahim’s marriage to a South Sudanese Christian is not legally recognized in her home city of Khartoum, Sudan. As the marriage is not considered legal according to the city’s Public Order laws (which are heavily influenced by Sharia), Ibrahim’s loving and faithful relationship to her husband is seen as adulterous and punishable by 100 lashes. Eight months into her pregnancy, rights workers defending Ibrahim in court fear officials will carry out both the lashing and execution shortly after the birth of unborn baby next month. In the meantime, rights workers continue to call on Sudanese authorities to grant Ibrahim proper prenatal medical care to ensure the life of her unborn child. Please join ICC in praying for Ibrahim, her children, her husband, and the nation of Sudan in this dark time.
04/28/2014 Sudan (Morning Star News) – A pregnant woman in Khartoum, Sudan raised as a Christian faces the death penalty for “leaving Islam” because her father was Muslim, sources said.
Meriam Yahia Ibrahim, 27, and her Christian husband also have a toddler son. As marriage to a Christian man is prohibited for a Muslim woman in Sudan, Ibrahim also could be given 100 lashes for “adultery,” the sources said. If convicted of “apostasy” and “adultery,” the whipping and execution would be administered soon after giving birth to her second child, due next month, according to a rights worker for Justice Center Sudan in Khartoum.
“We are fighting for Meriam’s life, freedom, and fair treatment – according to the law, if she had been a Muslim she should be killed soon after she gives birth to her child,” said the rights worker, whose identity was withheld for security reasons.
Married to a South Sudanese Christian who obtained U.S. citizenship several years ago, Ibrahim’s nightmare has included denial of bail, insufficient medical care for both her and her unborn child, beatings in prison and a U.S. Embassy that has offered little help, sources said.
“Meriam needs treatment every month to keep the unborn baby still in the mother’s womb, but no medical help has been allowed,” her husband, Daniel Wani, reported to Justice Center Sudan. “They are denying my wife her rights to fair treatment and my rights to visit and see my son.”
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