Woman sentenced to Death in Sudan for Marrying a Christian man and for converting to Christianity

A Christian Sudanese woman, Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, was sentenced to death on Thursday by a court of law in Khartoum for marrying a Christian man. She was also sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery because her marriage to a Christian was considered invalid under Sharia law. She is eight months pregnant, and was convicted on Sunday and given three days to return to Islam. When she appeared in court on Thursday, the judge addressed her by her Moslem name, Adraf Al-Hadi Mohammed Abdullah, but she replied that she is a Christian. Upon that reply the judge sentenced her immediately to death. She was arrested in August last year and charged with adultery. The court then added the charge of apostasy in February this year when she said she was a Christian and not a Muslim. The case had attracted international attention. On Tuesday, the embassies of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands issued a joint statement expressing deep concern about her conviction and reminded the government of Sudan to respect the right to freedom of religion. The country’s constitution promulgated in 2005 recognizes the right to worship under any religious belief.