CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- A pregnant woman who was raised as a Christian has been sentenced to execution by a Sudanese court that contends she has apostatized from Islam, drawing worldwide condemnation.<\/p>\n\t\u201cMrs. Ibrahim\u2019s willingness to stand-up for her faith \u2013 even in the face of death \u2013 is a true mark of uncommon courage and bravery,\u201d Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) said May 15.<\/p>\n
\tMeriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, is recognized as Muslim under Sudanese law because her father was Muslim. Her father abandoned the family when Ibrahim was six years old and she was raised as a Christian by her Ethiopian Orthodox mother.<\/p>\n
\tIbrahim married Daniel Wani, a Christian from South Sudan, and is now eight months pregnant.<\/p>\n
\tShe was arrested in August 2013; a Khartoum court convicted Ibrahim May 15 of apostasy from Islam, and adultery, on the grounds that marriage between Muslim women and non-Muslim men is not recognized.<\/p>\n
\tSmith called the death sentence \u201can egregious violation of basic human rights\u201d and \u201can affront to religious freedom everywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tIbrahim rejected the charges. \u201cI am a Christian and I never committed apostasy,\u201d she told the court.<\/p>\n
\tThree potential witnesses who went to court to testify about the woman\u2019s lifelong Christian faith were prevented from giving evidence, the U.K.-based religious liberty group Christian Solidarity Worldwide reports.<\/p>\n
\tIbrahim has been held in a women\u2019s prison along with her 20-month-old son, who is suffering illnesses due to the prison\u2019s poor hygiene and insect control. She will face 100 lashes on the adultery charge, and execution by hanging on the apostasy charge, reportedly after she gives birth.<\/p>\n
\tHer lawyers plan to appeal to a higher court to have her sentence overturned.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI\u2019m so frustrated. I don't know what to do,\u201d Wani told CNN May 15. \u201cI\u2019m just praying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSeveral dozen Sudanese protesters gathered outside the court to object to the decision.<\/p>\n
\tThe embassies of the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and the Netherlands in Sudan objected to the decision, urging the government to \u201crespect the right to freedom of religion, including one's right to change one's faith or beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tThe death sentence has drawn criticism from around the world.<\/p>\n
\tAndy Dipper, chief operating officer of Christian Solidarity Worldwide, said the sentence is \u201cinhumane, unwarranted and unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tChristian Solidarity Worldwide called for the \u201cimmediate release\u201d of Ibrahim and her son. The organization cited her religious freedom rights under the Sudan\u2019s interim constitution and under the international conventions the country has signed. The detention of her son violates the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, she noted.<\/p>\n
\tManar Idriss, Amnesty International's Sudan researcher, said May 15 that \u201cthe fact that a woman has been sentenced to death for her religious choice, and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion is appalling and abhorrent.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cAdultery and apostasy are acts which should not be considered crimes at all,\u201d he added. \u201cIt is flagrant breach of international human rights law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tA U.S. state department spokesperson said May 15 that the U.S. is \u201cdeeply concerned\u201d by the sentences and urged the Sudanese government to \u201crespect the right to religious freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWe call on the Sudanese legal authorities to approach this case with the compassion that is in keeping with the values of the Sudanese people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tSmith said the U.S. and the international community should demand a reversal of the sentence, calling the Sudanese government\u2019s refusal to recognize religious freedom a motivation for the region\u2019s lengthy civil war.<\/p>\n
\tSudan fought a civil war from 1983 to 2005 which led to autonomy for southern Sudan, and the formation of an independent South Sudan in 2011. Sudan's population is 97 percent Muslim.<\/p>\n
\tSudan scored an 11 out of 100 in Transparency International's 2013 Corruption Perceptions Index, ranking at 174 out of 177 among nations based on the perception of their public sector corruption \u2013 ahead of only Afghanistan, North Korea, and Somalia.<\/p>\n
\tSince 1999, the U.S. state department has listed Sudan as a country of particular concern due to religious freedom violations.<\/p>\n
\tThe U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, which advises the U.S. government, said in its 2014 report that Sudan\u2019s government \u201ccontinues to engage in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of freedom of religion or belief.\u201d The report noted that the country\u2019s \u201crestrictive interpretation of Shariah law\u201d is imposed on both Muslims and non-Muslims.<\/p>\n
\tChristian Solidarity Worldwide called on the Sudanese government to address the \u201chigh degree of societal hostility\u201d towards religious minorities, including \u201cderogatory statements that may address hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Khartoum, Sudan, May 16, 2014 \/ 05:30 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- A pregnant woman who was raised as a Christian has been sentenced to execution by a Sudanese court that contends she has apostatized from Islam, drawing worldwide condemnation.<\/p>\n
\t“Mrs. I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-middle-east-africa"],"yoast_head":"\n
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