Sudan Not Freeing Woman Wed to Christian

Hopes that Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman sentenced to death for marrying a Christian, would walk free have all but faded. On Saturday, an undersecretary at Sudan’s foreign ministry suggested Ibrahim would be freed, but a day later the government appeared to backtrack. A foreign ministry spokesman said only the courts could decide Ibrahim’s fate and that he was “not aware that any release is imminent.” Sudan has earned international scorn since news broke that Ibrahim was sentenced to death for apostasy. Although she identifies as Christian, the court ruled she was a Muslim and considered her marriage to her Christian husband a capital crime under Islamic law. Since refusing to renounce her Christianity, she has sat in jail, where she gave birth a few days ago to her second child.