Faith Karimi and Yousuf Basil of CNN International are reporting that a pregnant Sudanese woman, who was sentenced to death for refusing to renounce her Christianity, may still be spared by the judiciary. Karimi and Basil write:
“A Khartoum court last week convicted Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, of apostasy, or the renunciation of faith. Ibrahim, who is eight months pregnant, is a Christian, her husband said. But the court considers her a Muslim. ‘I’m so frustrated. I don’t know what to do,’ said her husband, Daniel Wani. ‘I’m just praying.'”
Ibrahim’s husband is American and confined to a wheelchair. Ibrahim was also convicted of adultery and sentenced to 100 lashes because her marriage to a Christian man is considered void under Sharia law.
The charges against Ibrahim were brought to the attention of authorities by her brother who is a devout Muslim. Ibrahim claims that her father left the family when she was 6-years-old and her mother raised her as a Christian. Her brother says that Ibrahim was raised Muslim. He also says that she ran away, only to be discovered years later married to a Christian man. The court has asked Ibrahim to renounce her Christianity but she has refused.
In cases where pregnant women have been sentenced to death, authorities typically wait until the child has been weaned from the mother before carrying out the death sentence. The international community is up-in-arms over the case and the verdict.
Read more at CNN International.
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