A Christian woman sentenced to death and 100 lashes in Sudan has been released, it is reported, two weeks after our witness for her outside the Sudanese Embassy in London.
Following her release, she has been re-arrested at Khartoum airport. And following that, she was released and is now staying with her husband and family at the US Embassy.
Meriam Ibrahim was convicted of apostasy and adultery. Although brought up as a Christian, she was considered a Muslim because that was the faith of her father, and when she married a fellow Christian, her marriage was not recognised by the court and she was convicted of adultery.
But Sudan’s Appeal Court has quashed the lower court’s verdict and ordered her release.
Yesterday, her lawyer told the BBC Meriam Ibrahim had been released from prison.
It is not yet known where she is staying. Her husband, Daniel Wani, said he was looking forward to seeing her.
Mr Wani, who is originally from South Sudan, said he wanted his family to leave Sudan as soon possible.
Mrs Ibrahim’s lawyer Elshareef Ali told the BBC: “They have released her… she’s on her way to home.” Mr Ali said Mrs Ibrahim had shown “extraordinary courage” during her ordeal.
The case led to a witness for Meriam outside the Sudanese Embassy on 6th June organised by Christian Voice and joined by the Pakistan Christian Association.
Around 35 Christians stood in witness opposite the Sudanese Embassy in Cleveland Row in London before moving across the road for the photographic record on the right.
After singing hymns and praying for the mother-of-two and prisoner of conscience, those assembled signed and delivered a letter to the Sudanese Ambassador.
IT was the only demonstration for Meriam Ibrahim to be held at a Sudanese Embassy. We believe it changed the spiritual dynamics and we regard her release as an answer to prayer.
Her lawyer, Mr Ali, also told the BBC: “It’s a victory for freedom of religion in Sudan… By Meriam’s strong position, we believe that in the future no-one will be subjected to such a trial.”
It will be very welcome if that is the case, but since the secession of South Sudan, the position of Christians in the northern remainder has become difficult.
Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir has pursued an Islamic identity after the Southern secession. It is hard now to argue for multi-culturalism in Sudan. South Sudanese resident in Sudan were told soon after the South’s independence to leave or register as foreigners, but were provided no details about where and how to register. Christianity is regarded as a South Sudanese religion.
In a report on Christianity in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, the French research group CEDEJ concluded: “the current situation of Christian communities and churches in Khartoum is characterized by uncertainty and intimidation rather than a systematic violation of the religious rights from part of the Sudanese authorities”.
However, Churches have been closed, burned by mobs and looted by criminals while the police stood by. Some church leaders report of a requirement by the authorities to register the land their churches stand on which is difficult to meet. High registration fees and corruption mean that a lot of land in Sudan is unregistered and for churches to be singled out and required to produce registration documents shows a level of harassment. Sudan is a precarious place to be a Christian, despite Sudanese assurances to the contrary.
We give thanks for the release of Meriam Ibrahim, but must continue to pray for our Christian brothers and sisters in Sudan.
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Ah, isn’t it always the way ? When you divide up a country to create a new country for a minority, you create new smaller minorities in each of the new countries ! Thus there are still Muslims in India (I’m not sure that Hindus have survived in Pakistan), and still of course Roman Catholics in Northern Ireland. There are still Protestants in the Irish Republic as well, but the Roman Catholic majority has treated them well (as it does protestant minorities nowadays in France and Italy). Not only are there (famously) Jewish settlers in the Palestinian part of cis-Jordanian South Levant ,but there are Arabs in Israel. Life is not simple. There are Russian minorities in former Soviet republics like Lithuania, and even a Ukrainian minority in the Crimea. The Irish Republic is beginning to look like a model for Peace and stability.
There seems to be a lot more to the Meriam Ibrahim case than the regrettable facts which are well publicised. Today’s Guardian refers to “men claiming to be her relatives although Ibrahim denied knowledge of them”. Her release was the legal decision of an appeal court and this decision was made for valid legal reasons, which is better news than winning an isolated publicised case, or so it is maintained by Jehanne Henry of Human Rights Watch. I’m sure we can all agree that if, for whatever reason, Sudanese courts can be relied on in future not to convict and sentence cases like this, it is an excellent outcome. We can all rejoice that Mrs Ibrahim doesn’t appear to be too much the worse for wear, and it would be ludicrous if the USA does not take her in (if that’s what she wants).
[ There is at present no link available to today’s Guardian article ]
She has to get there first.
Well, I didn’t know she was going to be re-arrested, did I ?
Actually, your headline is a little misleading, because she was detained over an irregularity in her travel documents, not arrested in connection with the famous case. This may seem, from a distance, just pedantic, but it was like a Croatian trying to travel on a Serbian passport, and really not on ! The Americans might have raised difficulties at the other end (for example, that she seemed to come from South Sudan and was in no danger of persecution there).
The Guardian link to the report I referred to is here :
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/23/sudan-death-row-meriam-ibrahim-released-after-international-outcry
Hello,
thanks for the latest news regarding Meriam. I am saddened to hear it. She is a courageous lady and I hope the government keep up the presure on the Sudanese.
I will pass on this sad development to my wife when she returns home from work.
We will both pray for Meriam and her husband.
God bless.
Still praying for you & family, dear Meriam. God will hav the victory & the glory.
We will continue praying for her and her family.
my guess is that the Sudan state does not want her turning up on American TV and are engaged in putting time between the original media protest over the case. Hope this is right and they are not trying to get here on some other fabricated charge.
According to the Guardian they married in Khartoum Catholic church. Now she has also visited the Pope, I assume this brave lady must still be a Roman Catholic.If this is the case, whatever her testimony, I fear she is not saved. Does anyone have any information on this vital matter?