Just a day after the first pictures emerged of Meriam Ibrahim’s newborn baby named Maya, her husband is pleading with people around the world to speak up on her behalf so she is not executed for her faith.
The pregnant Christian woman gave birth in chains while in a Sudanese prison because of her Christian faith. Ibrahim’s legs were chained as she gave birth in Sudanese jail and the 27-year-old gave birth as she was shackled to the floor. Her husband was initially refused entry to jail but was eventually allowed in with lawyer.
Now, American citizen Daniel Wani is appealing for global support to spare his wife’s death and to receive custody of his newborn girl.
Wani, a US citizen since 2005, said mounting international pressure could have a significant impact on the Sudanese authorities and he felt overwhelmed by “the way people have come together around the world” to protest at his wife’s death sentence.
“The calls are overwhelming. I want to thank everyone for this stand. It’s looking like it had an effect. Perhaps it will result in the judgment being overturned,” he told CNN.
Guards needed permission from the prison director to release the chains, which was not obtained, her lawyer Elshareef Mohammed told the Guardian.
Wani was permitted to visit his wife, baby Maya and 20-month-old son Martin on Thursday at the Omdurman women’s prison near Khartoum. “She is a beautiful baby, and they are all fine,” said Mohammed. “Martin is with her, and is a bit jealous of the baby.”
SIGN THE PETITION! Save Meriam Ibrahim, Don’t Hang her to Death for Her Faith
He said Ibrahim and the children were being kept in the prison clinic, and Wani had been given permission to visit them twice a week. The shackles were removed on Wednesday.
Both Wani and Mohammed said the US authorities in Khartoum had failed to press for Ibrahim’s release. “It’s not the US government, when the problem began the US consul here had a very negative position on this. She was very high handed … She said, and I quote, ‘I don’t have time,'” Wani told CNN.
Mohammed said: “The US embassy is not giving help.” A duty officer at the embassy in Khartoum said no one was available to comment.
David Christensen, the Vice President for Government Affairs, is urging Americans to contact Congress on Meriam’s behalf.
“Please contact your Member of Congress and urge them to support H. Res. 601, introduced this week by Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona, calling for the release of imprisoned Sudanese Christian Meriam Ibrahim,” he said.
“Meriam has spent months in a Sudanese prison and has been sentenced to death — all for refusing to recant her Christian faith. Just this week, she gave birth to her second child — a daughter — while still held in jail. Despite being married to an American citizen and the fact that her children are also eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship, Meriam’s case has received little attention from our Department of State or the U.S. Embassy in Sudan,” he told LifeNews. “That’s why H. Res. 601 also calls upon this Administration to act now on behalf of Meriam and to move quickly to grant her and her children refuge in the United States.”
“Sudan’s egregious treatment of Meriam represents the type of human rights abuses our country has long publically condemned. It’s important that Members of Congress act now to pressure the Executive Branch to act and to signal their support for religious freedom and human rights. Please contact your Representative and urge them to co-sponsor H. Res. 601 today,’ he concluded.
