The husband of Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, the pregnant Sudanese Catholic who has been sentenced to death for apostasy, says the US State Department has done little to help him and is left with nothing more he can do “but pray” for the release of his wife.
During an interview with CNN, Daniel Wani said prayer is “all I can do” while he awaits the execution of his wife, who is currently imprisoned with the couple’s 20 month-old son, Martin.
Meriam is eight months pregnant and has been sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy, but the sentence will be delayed for two years to give her time to wean the child.
During the interview, Wani expressed his frustration, saying he did not know what to do to help his wife, whose plight is now drawing international outrage. During the “trial”, which was run by Islamic fundamentalists, Judge Abbas Khalifa gave Meriam three days to repent of her crimes and convert to Islam, but she refused.
“I was never a Muslim,” she answered. “I was raised a Christian from the start.”
Khalif then pronounced her sentence. “We gave you three days to recant but you insist on not returning to Islam. I sentence you to be hanged to death.”
She will also be subject to 100 lashes which will be administered immediately after she gives birth.
The court insists that Meriam, who is a physician by profession, abandoned Islam and engaged in a long-term relationship outside the bounds of Islam when she married her Christian husband. Wani is an American citizen who came to the U.S. in 1998 and has been trying to get a visa for his wife and child to leave the country but the American Embassy has not been “helpful”, Wani said.
Apparently, Meriam’s father was Muslim, but her mother is Christian, and she was raised Christian. However, in Sudan, her father’s faith makes her legally Muslim, which is what prompted the sentence.
Wani also explained that his wife never changed religions in her life, and simply became Catholic after having been raised in the Orthodox church.
According to Morning Star News, Meriam’s nightmare includes “denial of bail, insufficient medical care for both her and her unborn child, beatings in prison, and a U.S. Embassy that has offered little help.”
The News also reports that a prison guard has mistreated her and is not allowing her husband to visit or medical personnel to tend to her needs. In addition, Wani says that a Muslim woman in the jail has incited other Muslims to make life difficult for her. Their son is also suffering from numerous health concerns due to the unhealthy conditions in the prison.
While international outrage grows, the U.S. State Department has come under fire for its tepid response to the plight of this family.
Writing for Breitbart, Faith J. H. McDonnell, director of the Institute on Religion and Democracy’s Religious Liberty Program and Church Alliance for a New Sudan, criticized the State Department’s most recent statement on the case, calling it “tepid” and saying only that “we understand that the court sentence can be appealed.”
“Perhaps they need to be reminded of the following facts, omitted from their statement,” McDonnell writes.
• This is the wife of an American citizen.
• Her toddler, also imprisoned, is an American citizen.
• Her unborn baby will be an American citizen.
Even worse, Wani reveals that the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum showed “no interest” in helping the family when his wife was arrested, and has even demanded a DNA test from him to prove that he is the father of the couple’s toddler son,
“I will have to take a DNA sample in Khartoum, then send it to the USA for testing,” Wani said. “I have provided wedding documents and the baby’s birth certificate, and doors were closed on his face. My son is an American citizen living in a difficult situation in prison.”
Dr. Andrew Bostom, author of The Legacy of Islamic Antisemitism is calling upon all Americans to “cajole the U.S. State Department, directly, or via their elected Representatives to demand that the Sudanese government immediately release Meriam Ibrahim, and her U.S. citizen toddler son. Moreover, the American public must also insist that the U.S. State Department . . . transport Meriam, and her son and husband, both U.S. citizens—immediately to the U.S. having secured their release.”
Click here to contact the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum.
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