Christian woman hiding after new ‘forgery’ charge in Sudan
The Sudanese mother acquitted of a death sentence for ‘apostasy’ is now waiting “in a safe place” in light of the latest allegation against her, ‘forging travel documents’. She till hopes to fly to the United USA with her family. During her detention, she was mostly scared of giving birth to her second child in a prison, on 27 May. “I gave birth chained,” Maryam Yahya Ibrahim told CNN in a phone interview on Tuesday. “Not cuffs, but chains on my legs. I couldn’t part my legs.” Doctors now fear that the circumstances of the baby’s birth may have lasting consequences. “I don’t know if she’ll need support to walk in the future,” said Ibrahim. It is unsure whether her future will be in Sudan or the USA. She and her husband Daniel Wani, who has dual South Sudanese and US citizenship, were freed from custody on Thursday after two days. They were trying to fly to the USA with their baby and toddler son. Now Ibrahim is charged with “presenting forged travel documents and giving false information”, one of her lawyers, Thabit El Zubeir Suleiman said. They were “terrorised” when the police officers took her and Wani, who is confined to a wheelchair, from the airport, and locked her “in a room for four to five hours”. ‘New problem every day’ Ibrahim commented on the newest allegation against her: “My paperwork came from the Embassy. It’s 100% correct and it was approved by the South Sudan and US ambassadors. It’s my right […] because my husband has a South Sudanese and an American passport.” She has been granted a US visa. “There’s a new problem every day about me leaving. Leaving is exactly what I want, not anything more.” Ibrahim told CNN that she is not scared despite her experiences so far. The Christian mother braved death by hanging as she refused to renounce her faith. And in prison, she received comments about her being a Christian or “non-believer”, from both prisoners as officers.Ibrahim, whose father was Muslim, was raised by her Christian mother, after the father abandoned the family when she was six years old. By law, children must follow their father’s religion. She married Wani, a Christian from South Sudan, in 2011. As in many Muslim nations, Muslim women in Sudan are prohibited from marrying non-Muslims. Ibrahim was detained in February along with her 18-month-old young son, and as of 27 May with her baby daughter.(source: CNN) File photo: Maryam Yahya Ibrahim and daughter. (CNN)Related:Sudan forces destroy Christian church in Khartoum (1 July 2014) Condemned Christian woman re-arrested at Sudan airport (24 June 2014)
The Sudanese mother acquitted of a death sentence for ‘apostasy’ is now waiting “in a safe place” in light of the latest allegation against her, ‘forging travel documents’. She till hopes to fly to the United USA with her family.
During her detention, she was mostly scared of giving birth to her second child in a prison, on 27 May. “I gave birth chained,” Maryam Yahya Ibrahim told CNN in a phone interview on Tuesday. “Not cuffs, but chains on my legs. I couldn’t part my legs.” Doctors now fear that the circumstances of the baby’s birth may have lasting consequences. “I don’t know if she’ll need support to walk in the future,” said Ibrahim. It is unsure whether her future will be in Sudan or the USA.
She and her husband Daniel Wani, who has dual South Sudanese and US citizenship, were freed from custody on Thursday after two days. They were trying to fly to the USA with their baby and toddler son. Now Ibrahim is charged with “presenting forged travel documents and giving false information”, one of her lawyers, Thabit El Zubeir Suleiman said.
They were “terrorised” when the police officers took her and Wani, who is confined to a wheelchair, from the airport, and locked her “in a room for four to five hours”.
‘New problem every day’
Ibrahim commented on the newest allegation against her: “My paperwork came from the Embassy. It’s 100% correct and it was approved by the South Sudan and US ambassadors. It’s my right […] because my husband has a South Sudanese and an American passport.” She has been granted a US visa.
“There’s a new problem every day about me leaving. Leaving is exactly what I want, not anything more.” Ibrahim told CNN that she is not scared despite her experiences so far. The Christian mother braved death by hanging as she refused to renounce her faith. And in prison, she received comments about her being a Christian or “non-believer”, from both prisoners as officers.
Ibrahim, whose father was Muslim, was raised by her Christian mother, after the father abandoned the family when she was six years old. By law, children must follow their father’s religion. She married Wani, a Christian from South Sudan, in 2011. As in many Muslim nations, Muslim women in Sudan are prohibited from marrying non-Muslims.
Ibrahim was detained in February along with her 18-month-old young son, and as of 27 May with her baby daughter.
(source: CNN)
File photo: Maryam Yahya Ibrahim and daughter. (CNN)
Related:
Sudan forces destroy Christian church in Khartoum (1 July 2014)
Condemned Christian woman re-arrested at Sudan airport (24 June 2014)
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