eight months pregnant, Mariam was arrested on February 7, 2014, with her 20-month old son, and was placed in a women's prison where she was shackled to a wall. Yes, you heard correctly! Mariam and her 20-month old son was forced into prison, and the son is not allowed to be with his father, Daniel Wani (Mariam's husband), or be raised by him because he is a Christian. Mariam was charged with "adultery" because she simply married a man that was a Christian. Mariam was also charged with apostasy. Apostasy is the rejection in word or deed of one's former religion by a person who was previously a follower of Islam. Now, keep in mind that Mariam was abandoned by her Muslim father. According to the Sudan's Public Order Criminal Code, Mariam is a Muslim by default because she was born in Sudan. Since Mariam is considered a Muslim by default, her marriage to her Christian husband is considered illegal; not valid in the eyes of the Sudan Courts. Some Muslims abide by a strict Islamic law that does not allow marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men.
Due to Mariam being charged with apostasy, she has been sentenced to receiving 100 lashes as punishment for converting to Christianity. During Mariam's court proceeding, she was ordered by the courts to abandon her adopted Christian faith and return to Islam. Mariam was given three days to renounce her Christian faith, but she refused. Her argument was that she had been a Christian all her life, and that she could not rescind her beliefs. During the hearing, Judge Abbas al Khalifa asked Mariam if she would return to Islam; Mariam refused. She responded by saying, "I am a Christian." The court then ordered for her to spend the remainder of her pregnancy in prison, and after she delivers her baby, she will be punished to receive 100 lashes and hung to death.
If that wasn't bizarre enough, there is more! Daniel Wani, Mariam's husband, is an U.S citizen. He resides in New Hampshire, and has been a U.S. citizen since 2005. Legally, his 20- month old son is a U.S citizen but they have been denied help by the U.S government, as well as the U.S Embassy in Sudan. Daniel Wani was in the process of bringing his wife and son to the United States, but Mariam was arrested before this could take place.
Mariam gave birth to her daughter, Maya, on May 27, 2014 in the hospital wing at Omdurman Federal Women's Prison in North Khartoum, Sudan. The Sharia court has postponed her sentence to be carried out in two years in order to give her time to recover from childbirth, and to wean baby Maya.
In Sudan, a woman named Meriam was sentenced to death earlier this month. Before she's hanged, the court decreed, she will be lashed 100 times, making her death agonizing as well as cruel. You see, Meriam married an American Christian -- and for that, she'll face a horrible fate.
I signed a petition asking Sudan to free Meriam. Will you sign it, too?
http://www.care2.com/go/z/e/Aiwkw/zOW5/cxDHx
Meriam has spent the last few weeks shackled to the floor of a prison, where her son, Martin, is also trapped. Adultery and violation of faith should not be considered crimes at all, let alone acts worthy of the death penalty. Human rights groups are calling this a breach of international human rights law.
It is absolutely imperative that Meriam be set free immediately. If you agree, will you sign this petition, too?
http://www.care 2.com/go/z/e/Aiwkw/zOW5/cxDHx
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