Sudanese Christian woman rearrested while attempting to leave country
June 25, 2014 (KHARTOUM) – A Sudanese Christian woman who was released from death row on Monday was rearrested on Tuesday at Khartoum airport while attempting to leave the country, according to international media reports.
Ibrahim, as well as her husband, Daniel Wani, and two children were detained by a group of security agents.
Undersecretary of the foreign ministry, Abdallah Al-Azraq, told reporters Tuesday that Ibrahim who is a Sudanese national was prevented from travelling because she did not presented the required documents.
According to the Sudanese diplomat she was in possession of a travel document issued by the Republic of South Sudan with an entry visa for the United States of America.
A female diplomat from the US embassy in Khartoum who was accompanying the family failed to persuade the security authorities to allow their departure.
Ibrahim’s conviction on charges of apostasy and adultery sparked international condemnation, with an Amnesty International petition calling for her release attracting more than a million signatures.
The 27-year-old, who was arrested last December, was initially held on adultery charges despite being married after a relative reported her to authorities.
Under Sudan’s Islamic Shari’a law Ibrahim’s marriage to a Christian man is considered invalid and therefore adulterous. The charge of apostasy – the act of renouncing one’s religion – was later added after she asserted that she was not a Muslim.
Ibrahim, who has been incarcerated with her 20-month-old son, Martin, since her arrest, recently gave birth to a baby daughter while in prison.
Ibrahim’s husband is a South Sudanese-born US citizen and as such her children would automatically be entitled to citizenship.
Meanwhile, a man identifying himself as Ibrahim’s brother said the case had tarnished the family’s honour and called for retribution against Christians.
Ibrahim maintains that she was raised according to her Ethiopian mother’s Christian faith as her father – a Sudanese Muslim – was largely absent from her childhood.
Following her conviction for apostasy, the court gave Ibrahim three days to renounce her faith, but she refused and the death sentence was upheld. She was also sentenced to 100 lashes on the adultery charge.
The ruling drew condemnation word-wide, with foreign governments and top diplomats appealing for clemency.
US secretary of state John Kerry urged Sudan to repeal its laws criminalising conversion from Islam, while the UK’s minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds, described the sentencing as “barbaric”.
There were also calls by US senators for Kerry to personally intervene in the case and offer Ibrahim asylum.
(ST)
– Sudan frees Christian woman sentenced to death for apostasy
– Khartoum appeal court cancels death sentence against Meriam Ibrahim
– Sudanese woman sentenced to death for religious beliefs gives birth in prison
– Pregnant Sudanese Christian woman sentenced to death
