Image Text:

THE WAIT CONTINUES: Hopes for Meriam Ibrahim, a Sudanese mother condemned to death for marrying a Christian man, have been dashed once more after the government denied claims she would be released

THE HOPES of a young Sudanese mother condemned to death for marrying a Christian man have been dashed once more after the government denied claims she would be released.

In what appeared as a break in the tragic story of Meriam Ibrahim has instead been described as a miscommunication of information, claiming foreign ministry official Abdullah Alazreg had been taken out of context by media outlets.

In an interview, Alzareg was quoted saying, “Meriam Ibrahim will be released through the judicial process in the coming few days”.

News that Ibrahim was set to be ‘freed’ from death row united campaigners and supporters in their relief.

However, jubilation has been cut short as an official ministry statement stepped into ‘clarify’ Alazregs statement. Abu Bakr al-Sideeg, spokesman for the foreign ministry clarified on Sunday (June 1) that only courts had such powers as an independent body.

The seperation of powers means that the government and foreign ministry officials would have no power regarding the case of Ms Ibrahim. Furthermore a ministry statement has stepped in to claim that what Alazreg actually told the media was "that the defence team of the concerned citizen has appealed the verdict and if the appeals court rules in her favour, she will be released".

In a statement released through the couple’s lawyers, both her husband Daniel Wani and lawyer Mohammed Mustapha admitted their scepticism at the original claims implying she would be released. As explained in the statement, “The only party who can do that is the appeals court but I am not sure that they have the full case file.”

Ms Ibrahim was brought up as an Orthodox Christian, but a judge ruled last month that she should be regarded as Muslim because that had been her father's faith.

She refused to renounce her Christianity and now faces hanging for apostasy.

Wani, a dual citizen of both the US and Sudan expressed that he had not been contacted or told anything that would suggest his wife’s release.

The story has continued to gain momentum with a Change.org petition with nearly 750,000 signatures and has been publically condemned by Prime Minister David Cameron who described the treatment of the Ibrahim to have “no place in today’s world”.

The birth of the couples second child, a baby girl born Tuesday (May 27), sets into motion the 2-year period which Ibrahim has been granted to nurse her child before her pending execution.