After being released by Sudanese authorities following a ruling by an appeals court, Meriam Ibrahim has been rearrested while trying to leave Sudan with her family. Ibrahim was arrested, tried and sentenced to die for her faith after a family member complained that she had converted to Christianity. He was also convicted of adultery and sentenced to 100 lashes as Sudan did not recognize her marriage to her Christian husband Daniel Wani.
The Sudanese court considered Ibrahim a Muslim since her father was a Muslim, but Ibrahim said her father abandoned the family when she was six and she was raised a Christian. Her mother belongs to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The complaint came from a family member angered that his family’s honor had been tarnished.
Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, 27, her American husband, Daniel Wani, and their two children were stopped at an airport in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, and then detained and interrogated at Khartoum’s national security headquarters, the legal team said.
Details about why the family was held weren’t immediately available.
Wani, in a phone call to CNN, also said that he and his family were being held at the national security office, but did not provide details.
The developments come a day after Ibrahim’s legal team announced she’d been released from prison after weeks of international controversy over her conviction on apostasy and adultery charges.
The Daily Mail provides more details:
The couple were detained by around 40 security agents with their two children, Maya, one month, and Martin, 21 months.
Meriam’s lawyer, Shareif Ali Shareif, told MailOnline: ‘Meriam Ibrahim and Daniel Wani were arrested at the airport two hours ago [about 1230GMT).
‘They are now in the detention of the National Security forces. The family were trying to leave Sudan for a safe place. The children were with them. The children are with Meriam. They were arrested as well.
‘We don’t have any information about what charges they face. But the National Security force does not have to take them to court. This is not a criminal matter, it a national security matter.’
