Condemned Christian woman re-arrested at Sudan airport

(UPDATED 23:30) Maryam Yahya Ibrahim was detained on Tuesday, together with her husband and two children, at Khartoum airport, a day after a local court overturned her death sentence for apostasy.According to a report by Bloomberg’s Ahmed Feteha, Ibrahim was charged with ‘presenting forged travel documents and giving false information, her lawyer said. Members of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service detained Ibrahim, 27, today with her husband, Daniel Wani, and two children at the airport in the capital, Khartoum, as she tried to board a flight to leave the country, Thabit El Zubeir Suleiman, one of her lawyers, said by phone. Security agents filed the charges against Ibrahim after questioning the couple for about six hours, he said. Ibrahim and Wani are currently at a Khartoum police station and she will probably released on bail later today, Suleiman said. Ibrahim was travelling on a travel document issued by the South Sudanese Embassy in Khartoum, he said. South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011.  “The reason for these charges is to find a legal reason to keep Meriam inside Sudan,” Soliman said. “The NISS do not have any proof that these documents are forged.” Sudanese Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman said by phone earlier that he had no details about the incident.  Ibrahim was detained today by members of Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) at the airport in the capital, Khartoum, as she tried to board a flight to leave the country. Her husband, Daniel Wani, and their two children were also taken into custody. Her lawyer, El Sharif Ali, was with the family at the time of the arrest. He witnessed more than 40 NISS officers apprehended them as they attempted to board a flight to the USA. Ibrahim’s husband is a US citizen. “It’s very disappointing,” Ali told The Guardian. “They were very angry. They took us [the family’s lawyers] outside, and took the family to a NISS detention center. They have not been given access to lawyers.” He said the appeal court had quashed Ibrahim’s convictions, and there were no restrictions on her travelling. He added that political differences within the government over the case may have played a part in the decision to prevent her leaving. 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 has been in jail since February, along with her 18-month-old young son, and since 27 May with her baby daughter. She was sentenced to hang for apostasy in May this year by a Sharia court after refusing to renounce Christianity. File photo: Maryam Yahya Ibrahim at the time of her release, holding her daughter Maya, who was born in prison. Her husband Daniel Wani (L) is holding their son. (Radio Dabanga correspondent) Related:Condemned Christian woman released in Sudan (23 June 2014)Baby ‘ray of light’ for woman facing death in Sudan (30 May 2014)Jailed child of condemned Sudanese mother ‘could be US citizen’ (20 May 2014)Sudan Court confirms death penalty for pregnant mother refusing to leave Christian faith (15 May 2014)