ICC Note:
The morning following her court-ordered release and acquittal, Meriam Yahia Ibrahim and her family were arrested by Sudanese security personnel at a Khartoum airport, allegedly as result of insufficient documentation. At the time of this posting, the family remains under detention. ICC sources speculate the family was traveling to South Sudan, Meriam’s husband’s country of origin, en-route to the United States (U.S.), a speculation likely confirmed by a BBC report that Meriam was in possession of a U.S. passport at the time of the arrest.
06/24/2014 Sudan (The Tablet) – Meriam Ibrahim, the Christian mother sentenced to death in Sudan because of her faith, has been re-arrested following her release yesterday.
Mrs Ibrahim, 27, was detained along with her family as they boarded an aeroplane in Khartoum in Sudan, the news agency Reuters reported.
She had been sentenced under Sharia law to be hanged for refusing to renounce her faith, but her case prompted international outcry and she was released by an appeal court on Monday.
A security official told Reuters that he did not know why Mrs Ibrahim had been rearrested, but the charity International Christian Concern, which supports persecuted Christians worldwide, spoke with a member of Ibrahim’s legal defence this morning and was told that Meriam, Daniel, and their two children were arrested for “national security concerns” by members of the Sudanese military.
The charity said that the Ibrahims were reportedly being held at a National Security Office. Mrs Ibrahim’s defence said that they were “greatly concerned” and that “no one can do anything.”
“The defence explained that no legal mechanism exists by which to intervene on the Ibrahims’ behalf. Some ICC sources also reported that the Ibrahims’ legal defence have been threatened with arrest by Sudanese authorities,” it said today.
ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa, Cameron Thomas, said: “We are deeply concerned by Meriam, Daniel, Martin and Maya’s arrest this morning at the hands of military personnel. The implication that an educated mother, debilitated father, toddler and infant pose a national security concern is absolutely absurd. Just yesterday, a Sudanese court not only released Meriam and her children, but acquitted her of all charges, dropped all imposed sentences and recognised as legal her marriage to Daniel, which had previously been annulled by a lower court.
For the Sudanese State to violate not only its interim constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter for Human and People’s Rights and now a decision by one of the highest courts in its allegedly independent judiciary is inexcusable. In arresting Meriam and her family this morning, the al-Bashir Regime has once again confirmed its commitment to the violation, not the protection, of human rights and religious freedom, and the international community must respond immediately.”
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