Pregnant Sudanese Woman To Be Flogged To Death For 'Crime' Of Marrying A Christian Man

No remorse: Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's career has been defined by war. He came to power in a coup in 1989 and has ruled what was until this year Africa's largest country with an iron fist ever since

A Sudanese court gave a 27-year-old woman who is eight-months pregnant with her second child, until Thursday to abandon her newly adopted Christian faith and return to Islam or face a death sentence.

Mariam Yahya Ibrahim was charged with apostasy as well as adultery for marrying a Christian man, something prohibited for Muslim women to do and which makes the marriage void.

The final ruling will be announced on later today. Ibrahim's case was the first of its kind to be heard in Sudan.

On February 7, 2014, Meriam was arrested, with her 20-month-old son, and put in a women’s prison. She had not been charged nor did she receive a fair trial. 

A relative had turned her in to the police for marrying a Christian. According to the Sudan’s Public Order Criminal Code.

Meriam is a Muslim by default because she was born in Sudan.

Thus, her marriage to a Christian is a criminal act.

On March 4th, Meriam was charged with adultery and apostasy. 

The adultery charge came with a punishment of 100 lashes.

The apostasy charge came with a punishment of death. As it stands, Meriam will be put to death following the birth of her second child.

Meriam’s husband, Daniel, is not allowed to care for their child, Martin, because he is a Christian. Therefore, Martin, almost two years old, is in prison with his mother. Daniel is not allowed to visit or see his son.

Young Sudanese university students have mounted a series of protests near Khartoum University in recent weeks asking for an end to human rights abuses, more freedoms and better social and economic conditions. 

The authorities decided on Sunday to close the university indefinitely.

Western embassies and Sudanese activists sharply condemned the accusations and called on the Sudanese Islamist-led government to respect freedom of faith.

'The details of this case expose the regime's blatant interference in the personal life of Sudanese citizens,' Sudan Change Now Movement, a youth group, said in a statement.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's government is facing a huge economic and political challenge after the 2011 secession of South Sudan, which was Sudan's main source of oil.

A decision by Bashir last year to cut subsidies and impose austerity measures prompted violent protests in which dozens were killed and hundreds were injured.