The wedding picture that signed a pregnant woman's death warrant: Sudanese Muslim doctor to be flogged and hanged... for marrying a Christian



Mariam Yahya Ibrahim has been sentenced to death for converting to Christianity to marry her Christian husband



Having been born in Sudan, Ibrahim is considered a Muslim by birth

This makes her marriage to husband Daniel Wani, a non-Muslim, illegal

The punishment will be carried out after her second child is born

This is the picture that could cost a pregnant woman in Sudan her life after she was sentenced to death for converting to Christianity to marry her husband.



Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, 27, was charged with adultery for marrying a Christian man and has been ordered by the courts to abandon her newly adopted Christian faith and return to Islam.

During yesterday's sentencing hearing Judge Abbas al Khalifa asked the pregnant mother-of-one whether she would return to Islam - but she refused.

She said 'I am a Christian,' and the death sentence was handed down, judicial sources said.



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The wedding photo that has cost Sudanese woman Mariam Yahya Ibrahim her life after being sentenced to death for converting to Christianity. She is hoping to appeal the sentence

More than 50 people gathered outside the court where sentence was being passed on Mariam Yahya Ibrahim

After the verdict her husband, Daniel Wani told CNN: 'I'm so frustrated. I don't know what to do. I'm just praying.'

A government spokesman said the ruling could be appealed in a higher court.

Outside the court, around 50 people held up signs that read 'Freedom of Religion', while some Islamists celebrated the ruling, chanting 'God is Greatest.'

The United States called on Sudan to respect the religious freedom guaranteed in its own constitution

People held up signs that read 'Freedom of Religion', while some Islamists celebrated the ruling, chanting 'God is Greatest'

On February 7, Ms Ibrahim was arrested with her 20-month-old son, and put in a women’s prison.



It is thought a relative had turned her in to the police for marrying a Christian.



According to the Sudan’s Public Order Criminal Code, she is a Muslim by default because she was born in Sudan.

Therefore, her marriage to a Christian is classed as a criminal act.

On March 4, she was charged with adultery and apostasy. The adultery charge came with a punishment of 100 lashes and the apostasy charge came with a punishment of death.



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



Mr Wani is not allowed to care for their child, Martin, because he is a Christian.

Martin, who is almost two years old, is in prison with his mother. Mr Wani 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 in the country.



The authorities decided on Sunday to close the university indefinitely.



Uncertain future: Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir has said he wants to adopt a '100 per cent' Islamic constitution now that the South has split off. The government says the new constitution will guarantee religious freedom, but many Christians are wary

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.