An Islamic court in the Sudanese capital has said that a pregnant woman sentenced to hang for apostasy after she married a Christian man will be allowed to give birth before she is executed.
Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, who was born to a Muslim father but brought up a Christian by her mother, was convicted on Sunday in Khartoum and given three days to recant her faith or face a possible death sentence.
“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 Mrs Ibrahim, addressing her by her father’s name, Adraf Al-Hadi Mohammed Abdullah.
Mrs Ibrahim also faces a sentence of flogging for adultery on the grounds that her marriage to a Christian man from South Sudan is considered void under Islamic law. She will be given 100 lashes. Because her father was Muslim, she was considered by the court to be the same.
Laughing Conservative expects Mrs Ibrahim will be take comfort from the fact that the Obamas no doubt are urgently preparing a hashtag to defend her,