The Sudanese Organization for the Defence of Rights and Freedoms has condemned the death sentence against Meriam Yahya by a court in Khartoum, saying the verdict violates international treaties ratified by Sudan.
A court last Thursday sentenced 27-year-old Meriam Yehya to death by hanging for apostasy after she allegedly converted to Christianity. The judge also sentenced Yehya to 100 lashes under Islamic Shari’a law for her marriage to a non-Muslim, which is forbidden and therefore considered adultery.
The accused said that she was born to a Sudanese Muslim father and Ethiopian Orthodox mother, and was raised as a Christian since a child. Her father left when she was age 6, she says.
Her husband, Daniel Wani, is a South Sudanese-American. The brother is reportedly Muslim.
Speaking to Radio Tamazuj on Friday, Faroug Mohamed Ibrahim, a member of the Sudanese rights organization, affirmed that they will stand firm in defence of the case. He stressed that the sentence violates international law and contradicts the Sudanese constitution.
For its part, the US government on Thursday called for respect of religious freedom guaranteed by the Sudan’s transitional constitution.
The spokesperson of the National Security Council at the White House said in a statement, “We strongly condemn this sentence and urge the Government of Sudan to meet its obligations under international human rights law.”
“We call on the Government of Sudan to respect Ms. Ishag’s right to freedom of religion, a universal human right enshrined in Sudan’s own 2005 Constitution as well as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”
Sudanese parliament speaker Fatih Izz Al-Deen said the verdict is not final and is in the hands of the judiciary. In remarks cited by the state news agency, the senior official said the verdict will go through all the judicial stages to reach the constitutional court.
Image: Amnesty International