Sudanese woman to hang for abandoning Islam faith

A Sudanese judge yesterday sentenced a Christian woman to hang for apostasy, in a ruling which activists described as “abhorrent”.  

Born to a Muslim father, the woman was convicted under the Islamic sharia law that has been in force in Sudan since 1983 and outlaws conversions on pain of death.  

Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, 27, is married to a Christian and eight months pregnant.  

“We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged,” Judge Abbas Mohammed Al-Khalifa told the woman.  Khalifa also sentenced her to 100 lashes for “adultery”.

Under Sudan’s interpretation of sharia, a Muslim woman cannot marry a non-Muslim man and any such relationship is regarded as adulterous.

If the death sentence is carried out, she will be the first person executed for apostasy under the 1991 penal code, said Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a British-based group working for religious freedom.

Source: AFP