ICC Note:
The Khartoum Court of Appeals began hearing Meriam Yahia Ibrahim’s case this morning following a court committee’s determination the court would do so. According to Meriam’s legal defense, it could be weeks before the court renders a decision. The defense remains positive, however, asserting it has ample evidence to see to Meriam’s initial sentences to 100 lashes and death being overturned. Learn everything you need to know regarding Meriam’s case here.
06/10/2014 Sudan (WSJ) – An appeals court in Sudan on Tuesday began considering the case of a Sudanese woman who was sentenced to death last month for refusing to renounce her Christian faith, officials said.
A three-judge panel is hearing the appeal of Meriam Ibrahim, a 27-year-old mother who was forced to give birth in prison two weeks ago. The case has pitted western human-rights and religious groups against Khartoum’s Islamic-led courts. Sudan’s government shows no sign of stepping into the case despite the international pressure.
In May, an Islamic court charged Ms. Ibrahim with apostasy—or the abandoning of Islamic faith—after she married Daniel Wani, a Christian man of South Sudanese origin who holds U.S. citizenship. Ms. Ibrahim faces the additional charge of adultery for marrying a non-Muslim.
Ms. Ibrahim has been in detention since January, after her Muslim relatives complained to authorities about her marriage.
In the charged environment, the appeal is likely to take several weeks, according to Justice Center Sudan, a U.S.-based nonprofit group that is offering legal representation to Ms. Ibrahim. Although Ms. Ibrahim was given three days to return to Islam, she has insisted she was never a Muslim. Ms. Ibrahim was raised by her mother, an Orthodox Christian. Her Muslim father abandoned the family when she was six years old, according to Amnesty International.
If the court upholds the earlier conviction, Ms. Ibrahim faces a sentence of 100 lashes and death by hanging.
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