Sudanese Christian woman re-arrested at airport after initial release
Sudanese authorities re-arrested a Sudanese woman on Tuesday hours after she was freed from death row, and detained her and her family as they tried to board a plane in Khartoum, a security source and her lawyer said.An utter outrage, and it begs the query: will Obama speak up for this woman or not? Senator Ted Cruz is calling on Obama to speak in her defense:
Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, 27, sentenced to death last month for converting to Christianity from Islam, was released on Monday after what the government said was unprecedented international pressure.
The security official said he did know the reason for the re-arrest. One of Ibrahim's lawyers said she was being held at a security building outside the airport with her husband and two children.
Ibrahim was freed by an appeal court on Monday which cancelled her death sentence. She was then sent to a secret location for her protection after her family reported receiving threats.
Her release was welcomed by human rights groups and Western governments that had voiced outrage at the death sentence.
“President Obama should speak out publicly and call upon the government of Sudan to free Meriam Ibrahim. Sec. of State John Kerry should speak out loudly and forcibly and call up on,” he added.He's absolutely right, why didn't the US officials give her protection until she was out of the country? And are they going to come to her aid again now that she's been taken back in captivity?
Cruz said Ibrahim had been at the U.S. Embassy in Sudan before traveling to the airport to board a flight back to the U.S. and questioned why U.S. officials hadn't simply transported her in a military aircraft to avoid any danger.
“I think it is a fair question to ask why the administration put her in a position where the Sudanese government could forcibly take her into custody again. Their stated intentions to torture and murder her had been made clear,” Cruz said.
Labels: Africa, islam, misogyny, political corruption, United States