Sudanese woman sentenced to death for converting to Christianity
Thu May 15, 2014 8:38pm GMT
(Adds government comment)
KHARTOUM May 15 (Reuters) - A Sudanese court has sentenced a 27-year-old
woman to death for converting to Christianity, judicial sources said.
Mariam Yahya Ibrahim had been ordered to abandon her newly adopted Christian
faith and return to Islam. She had also been charged with adultery for
marrying a Christian man.
Judge Abbas al Khalifa asked Ibrahim whether she would return to Islam.
After she said "I am a Christian," the death sentence was handed down, the
judicial sources said.
A government spokesman said the ruling could be appealed in a higher court.
"Sudan is committed to all human rights and freedom of faith granted in
Sudan by the constitution and law," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abu-Bakr
Al-Siddiq said. He added that his ministry trusted the integrity and
independence of the judiciary.
Outside the court, around 50 people held up signs that read "Freedom of
Religion", while some Islamists celebrated the ruling, chanting "God is
Greatest".
Students have mounted a series of protests near Khartoum University in
recent weeks asking for more freedoms and better social and economic
conditions.
Western embassies and Sudanese activists have condemned what they said were
human rights abuses and called on the Islamist-led government to respect
freedom of faith. (Reporting by Khaled Abdel Aziz; Writing by Michael
Georgy; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)