KHARTOUM

(

15 May

.) -

A pregnant woman, Maryam Yahya Ibrahim (27) in Khartoum, has confirmed today to the court in Khartoum that she is a Christian, and will not abandon her faith. "I am a Christian, and I never committed apostasy", she told the court. The judge immediately sentenced the mother of one child to death by hanging for apostasy, and she will receive hundred lashes for adultery.andnbsp;

The court case took place in Hay Yousif in Khartoum North in the presence of several international diplomats, who have issues stern warnings to the government for prosecuting Christians. The first child of Maryam, like the baby that is due in a month time, is conceived in an official recognized Christian marriage, registered by the authorities, But the Islamic Dawa organisation and the Sudanese Fatwa Council decided that Maryam Yahya was born asandnbsp;Adraf El Hadi Mohamed Abdallahandnbsp;in a mixed marriage with a Christian mother and a Muslim father. However, after her father abandoned his wife and children, when Ibrahim was six years old, the children were raised as Christians by their mother in an Ethiopian Orthodox tradition.

On Monday, the court gave her three days to abandon her Christian faith in order to avoid a death sentence, but she refused.andnbsp;

After confirming her Christian faith, Judge Abbas Mohamed Khalifa of the Haj Yousif court decided this morning that the woman, who is a medical doctor, should be sentenced for having ####### outside wedlock, and having been converted to Christianity. The hundred lashes will be given for adultery, the capital punishment for the fact she is now convicted for apostasy.

The Christian husband of Maryam Yahya Ibrahim was also present at the court today. He was brought in a wheel chair. Ibrahim has been held in Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison since 17 February, with her 20-month-old son.

Arabic Forum