apostasy

A leader of the ruling coalition in Sudan said that the Miscellaneous Amendments Bill of 2020 had removed the death penalty for apostasy in the 1991 Criminal Law, to replace it with a disposition criminalizing ex-communication.

“Whoever is guilty of apostasy is invited to repent over a period to be determined by the tribunal. If he persists in his apostasy and was not recently converted to Islam, he will be put to death,” reads Article 126 of the Penal Code.

The Islamic thinker Mahmoud Mohamed Taha was executed in January 1985 for sedition and apostasy. Also, Meriam Ibrahim, a Christian Sudanese was sentenced to death for apostasy in May 2014 but released in July of the same year after an international campaign.

Mohamed Hassan Arabi, a member of the Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) told Sudan Tribune, Sunday that the draft law of the Miscellaneous Amendments for 2020, the opinion of the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Committee of the ruling coalition settled on repealing the article of apostasy and replacing it with a text criminalizing atonement.”
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Addis Ababa, 06 March 2020: The Chairperson of the Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, concluded a two-day working visit to Khartoum today.
During his visit, the Chairperson held extensive consultations with Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdock of the Transitional Government, the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Sovereignty Council, the Forces for Freedom and Change alliance, civil society organizations and personalities from the Opposition, as well with members of the international community in Khartoum, including the African diplomatic corps, the United Nations, the European Union and bilateral partners.
The Chairperson reiterated that the object of his visit was to take stock of progress made in the peace process, exchange views with national actors on the political and economic situation and assess implementation of commitments made in Constitutional Declaration, signed by the parties in August 2019, paving the way for the 39month transitional period.
He stressed the need for all stakeholders, including international partners to provide their immediate and concrete support at this critical juncture of the transition in light of the serious economic situation facing the country. He further stressed the need to maintain the momentum and rapidly consolidate the gains made since the beginning of the transition, while starting to prepare for the holding of free, fair, and transparent election to complete the democratic transformation of the country.
He also stressed the need for sustained efforts to advance peace in Sudan, promote reconciliation among all its stakeholders, and ensure stability, as key to creating conditions conducive to the fulfillment of the aspirations of all the Sudanese people.
The Chairperson reiterated African Union’s readiness to support as deemed necessary by the stakeholders, in the current negotiations between the armed movements and the transitional government, currently underway in Juba under the auspices of the government of South Sudan.
The Chairperson further reiterates the steadfast and continued commitment of the African Union to accompany the Sudanese people in their pursuit towards a democratic Sudan.