Hours after a Sudanese court sentenced his pregnant wife to death when she refused to recant her Christian faith, her husband told CNN he feels helpless. "I'm so frustrated. I don't know what to do," Daniel Wani told CNN on Thursday. "I'm just praying." This week a Khartoum court convicted his wife, Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, of apostasy, or the renunciation of faith.


Refused to renounce Christianity, court sentenced pregnant Sudanese woman to death

Meriam is Christian, her husband said. But the court considers her to be Muslim. The court also convicted her of adultery and sentenced her to 100 lashes because under Sharia law she cannot have sex with a Christian man. The court gave her until Thursday to recant her Christian faith - something she refused to do, according to her lawyer. So the penalty is death. "We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged to death," the judge told the woman, according to Al Jazeera.

During Thursday's sentencing hearing, a sheikh told the court "how dangerous a crime like this is to Islam and the Islamic community," said attorney Mohamed Jar Elnabi, who's representing Meriam. "I am a Christian," Meriam fired back, "and I will remain a Christian." Her legal team says it plans to appeal the verdict, which drew swift condemnation from human rights organizations around the world.

In the meantime, Meriam, who is eight months' pregnant, remains in prison together with her 20-month-old son. "She is very strong and very firm. She is very clear that she is a Christian and that she will get out one day," Elnabi told CNN from Sudan. Meriam was born to a Sudanese Muslim father and an Ethiopian Orthodox mother. Her father left when she was 6 years old, and Meriam was raised by her mother as a Christian. Sudan implemented full Sharia in 2011 after the secession of South Sudan.


Death sentence for a female doctor due to her religion

However, because her father was Muslim, the courts considered her to be the same, which would mean her marriage to a non-Muslim man is void. The case, her lawyer said, started after Meriam's brother filed a complaint against her, alleging that she had gone missing for several years and that her family was shocked to find she had married a Christian man.

The court's ruling leaves a family divided, with Meriam behind bars and her husband struggling to survive, Elnabi said. Police blocked Daniel from entering the courtroom on Thursday, Elnabi said. Lawyers appealed to the judge, but he refused. Daniel is handicapped and use a wheelchair and "totally depends on her for all details of his life," Elnabi said. "He cannot live without her," said the lawyer.

The couple's son is having a difficult time in prison. "He is very affected from being trapped inside a prison from such a young age," Elnabi said. "He is always getting sick due to lack of hygiene and bugs." Meriam is having a difficult pregnancy, the lawyer said. A request to send her to a private hospital was denied "due to security measures."


Sudan's court gives an additional 100 whips for having sex with someone from another religion

Amnesty International describes Meriam as a prisoner of conscience. "The fact that a woman could be sentenced to death for her religious choice, and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion, is abhorrent and should never be even considered," Manar Idriss, Amnesty International's Sudan researcher, said in a statement. "Meriam has been convicted solely on account of her religious convictions and personal status," she added.

Sudan imposes Sharia law on Muslims and non-Muslims alike and punishes acts of "indecency" and "immorality" by floggings and amputations. The lawyer, Elnabi, says he got a death threat a day before the controversial court hearing, with an anonymous caller telling him to pull out of representing Meriam or risk attack. "I feel very scared," he said. "Since yesterday, I live in fear if I just hear a door open or a strange sound in the street."

Still, the lawyer said he'll continue representing Meriam. "I could never leave the case. This is a matter of belief and principles," he said. "I must help someone who is in need, even if it will cost me my life." Meriam is doctor. She is married to Daniel Wani, who sits on a wheelchair and has been taking care of his life inconveniences.


SOS:

http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/15/world/af...woman-apostasy/

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/suda...ticle-1.1793562

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pregnant...postasy-n105961

http://www.sudantribune.com/spip.php?article51018

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/05/15/pr...h-for-apostasy/

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27424064

http://time.com/100884/sudanese-woman-sent...h-for-apostasy/

people act due to the law (they perceived) of the religion

so to kill all those people that follow the law ? or apa?

Meriam => Cannon/Artillery

This is serious /k. So stop trolling and flame baiting.

glad that you agree with me.

IMO all religion (major one) is good and meant to teach people to be good. But it's the followers fault for simply perceived

This post has been edited by maxxxxx0123: May 16 2014, 10:32 AM

I admire her faith, in face of death, critisim from family and community.

So if non-Muslim marry a Muslim in Malaysia, she don't renounce and join Islam, she will also be punish?

1. How come they didn't flog her mother? Because nobody made any complaint against her?

2. Who is the relative who made the complaint against Meriam?

3. If the authorities decided that you are Muslim or had been a Muslim, and you assert that no, they were mistaken, you are not Muslim, then the decision of the law is to hang you.

god bless her
jesus said those who suffers because of Him will be in heaven with Him

respect other religions, amen

ridiculous country and people

absolute no contribution to humanity, only contribute to brutality and violence

go to hell

This is brutally crazy.

Your question implies that in your example, the woman is not Muslim and the man is Muslim. In Malaysia, Syariah applies only on Muslims. Supposedly. Used to be the case. In which case, she (being non-Muslim) would not be punished.

But the arrest of BSM president and manager tells us that this is no longer the case. Many non-Muslims here in Malaysia adopt the attitude "they can do whatever they want, it does not affect us". They are only deluding themselves.

so if the other way round, she's a christian and wish to join islam.

you would say 'respect other religions, amen'?

Muslims kill a Christian for being Christian and nobody bats an eye.
Some artist makes a cartoon depiction of Muhammed and everyone loses their mind!

Apple and oranges. Please try again.

basically mean islam cannot convert to other
only other can convert to islam

funny

omg ?

My malay friend married to a chinese family without doing these things .

It rreally depend whether the one is faithful to his/her religion and god

I hope to see all the Westerners boycott and sanction the country of Sudan.

really admire the woman,her stand in her belief in her God

Why some parties can abuse Islamic laws so easily ? ...

She is raised as a Christian for all we know....

So , If a man rapes a non-muslim women and got her pregnant. After 20 years....They found the rapist and he was a Muslims , so he is the father.

So , now the 20 year old child must convert into Muslims due to the "Father" is a Muslim ?