She has been formally convicted of adultery and deserting religion (apostasy). Mariam will receive also 100 lashes for „adultery“ (committing “zena” — an Arabic word for illegitimate sex — for having sexual relations with a non-Muslim man). The Sudanese court gave her four days to abandon her newly adopted Christian faith and return to Islam or face a death sentence. Meriam’s husband, Daniel, is not allowed to care for their child, Martin, because he is a Christian. He is not allowed to visit or see his son in prison. Because young Sudanese university students have mounted a series of protests near Khartoum University asking for an end to human rights abuses, the authorities decided on Sunday to close the university indefinitely. This case determined Western embassies, Amnesty International and Sudanese activists to call on the Sudanese Islamist-led government to respect freedom of faith. It’s unclear if Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and the government will guarantee religious freedom in the new constitution.
