Mother on death row in Sudanese jail.

Was it not that pillar of the Anglican church, Ms A Widdecombe MP who presided over a prison regime where women were allowed out of clink to give birth - shackled to their hospital bed?
Was it not that beloved of the Roman Catholic popes (There are other popes) Generalissimo Franco who instituted garotting of women who had even attempted to gain terminations of a pregnancy brought about by such trivialities as rape ?
Was not the late, great Jim'll Fix It, much praised and honoured by 'mother church' ? - Pontifical Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_St._Gregory_the_Great
And as for Alan Turing who allegedly shortened W W 2 by about 2 years .....
Judge not, lest ye be judged. For with the judgement that ye judge, ye shall be judged. And ye will not like it, not one little bit.

I hope the interest, and disapproval, shown by the Western world has n't back-fired and made them dig their heels in. Let's hope and pray that the African Commission for Human Rights overrule them. And that they listen.

News not so good now www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/sudan/10869421/Sudan-apostasy-Meriam-Ibrahims-lawyers-take-case-to-international-commission.html

Just as there are no grounds in the New Testament for some of the excesses of Christian zealotry, in the Inquisition, say, or the burning of "witches".

Perhaps Islamic fundamentalists who follow the post-Mohammed laws will become as rare one day as witch-burners. Lets hope so.

In the Sunday Times an imam from Oxford ,director of the Muslim Educational Centre has stated that there are no grounds for this in the Koran .he calls Sharia a manufactured legal corpus which contradicts the primary divine scriptures .

Yes Lilygran I heard this on the news late last night. It just goes to prove that the right pressure, in the right place, by the right people can work.

This does look like good news! www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/meriam-ibrahim-sudanese-woman-sentenced-to-hang-will-be-freed-in-a-few-days-9466994.html

It does appear that, from this morning's news, that she will be released. The news team were questioning why it has all suddenly happened; why it wasn't contested when she applied to marry the man.

It sounds hopeful - if we can trust the government and if they can ensure her safety once she is released.

Sounds like this lady maybe released within days according to latest news, let's hope this is true!

Or they fear women!

In Islam, a woman is only worth half of a man. Pious Jews have a morning prayer in which they explicitly thank their god that they were not born a woman. The majority of the world's Christians are Roman Catholic, and we all know how little woman are valued there - apart from one Jewish girl a couple of millennia ago... Religions despise women - which makes it strange that so many women cling to them... Misogyny is institutional in the mosque, the church, the shul, the temple - and it stinks.

That's not the point. No one should dictate what faith another person should belong to.

Er, jings I don't know why the fuck she should, except maybe for the sake of her children.

Surely God would understand!

I wonder how many Christians would, these days, be prepared to be tortured and killed rather than renounce their faith.

Do you know any?

Hopefully the fact the world's spotlight is on them, including messages from PM's, is making a difference in their attitude.

We shouldn't be too down on the Muslim community for not speaking out:-

"The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, backed a statement from the Christian Muslim Forum in Britain calling for the sentence to be rescinded. "I wholeheartedly endorse this call … for the death sentence against Mariam Yahya to be dropped," he said."

"all she has to do is renounce Christianity" !!!!



Why the fuck should she?!!!

Muslims presumably feel that they have 'chosen' to be Muslims. I would like to ask them what the value of their choice is if such a choice is denied to all non-Muslims.

I read that she was forced to give birth shackled to the floor in her prison cell. Is it not possible that the photos we are being shown have been set up to show that we in the west have got the whole situation wrong? It is not surprising that she would smile on seeing her husband and children, but that doesn't mean she is not feeling deep despair and terror at what she is facing. Not do we know what might happen to her even if she did return to the Muslim faith - I find it hard to believe that there would be no further punishment. In short, are we being manipulated here?

Well, I'm glad her living conditions are apparently adequate, but didn't we always know that all she had to do to avoid the death penalty was renounce her Christian faith? I don't find it heartening that this is still the only option open to her.

Isn't anybody else heartened that living conditions for this woman and her children are not as bad as we at first imagined and that all she has to do if she wants to avoid the death sentence is to renounce Christianity?

Daughters were married off in this country and in Mediterranean countries for the sake of dynasties or family alliances. Family honour was important and girls locked up in their rooms and beaten if they persisted in defying their parents. The sisters of a girl who had "fallen" would find it hard to marry into a decent family.

But to put someone to death for apostasy (changing their religion) is a feature of Islamic fundamentalism. It is recommended in the Koran. Here it was more likely that a nunnery would get an unwilling novice who had not submitted to parental insistence on a marriage.

Which makes me wonder if there is some kind of different genetic makeup. I know that might be an extremely controversial thing to say Lilygranbut I honestly can't think of any other explanation. When a mother gives birth to a child the feelings of love and the need to protect are overwhelming. Why is it not so in Pakistan or Sudan? Genuinely

I don't know the answer to that, gillybob. I think if you are really poor with no food and no income, starving children and no possibility of improvement, your priorities might change. I also think that it is quite common outside Western Europe for children to be considered a resource for the family and where family members do not expect to follow individual wishes or ambitions. And I think ignorance allows people to base their actions on indefensible principles. On Today this morning, a Pakistani documentary maker said there are hundreds (thousands?) of honour killings every year in Pakistan and virtually no-one ends up in court as a result because it is just accepted as the way things are.

There is an article in today's Guardian about this woman and I was surprised to see a picture of her smiling and well dressed, sitting on a bed in what looks like a colourful, comfortable bedroom, holding her baby and with her son by her side.

According to the article she is visited daily by Sheiks to see if she is ready to renounce her Christian faith in which case her sentence would be rescinded. She has said she is not likely to do this.

I have signed , barbadosgran, I am so appalled, as everyone else on this this thread, at the barbaric treatment of this poor mother.
I see her husband is a US citizen, maybe the President will speak out soon for the family.....