Johannesburg - The General Council of the Bar of SA (GCB) has called on South African authorities to intervene to stop the death sentence of a pregnant woman in Sudan.
“Members of the international community cannot allow Sudan to continue to breach International Law and basic human rights norms in the manner illustrated by this case,” GCB chairman Ishmael Semenya in a statement.
“The GCB is of the view that the South African government, through diplomatic measures, must try to persuade the Sudanese authorities to overturn (the) sentence in furtherance of these principles.
Mariam Ishag, 27, lives in Sudan, and has been sentenced to death for not coverting to Islam. Her mother, who brought her up, is not a Muslim but her estranged father is Muslim.
Ishag, who is married to a non-Muslim, has a 20-month-old baby and is eight months pregnant.
She is currently being detained and her death sentence can only be carried out when her baby has been born and after she had breastfed the baby for two years.
While in detention, she will receive 100 lashes for living with a man from another religion.
Sapa