After being criticized for sentencing a Christian woman to death for refusing to convert to Islam, the Sudanese government defended its verdict and said the decision is only preliminary. 

Merian Yehya Ibrahim, 27, was convicted of apostasy by a Khartoum court last week. Apostasy refers to the renunciation of faith. 

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According to Daniel Wani, the convict's husband, Ibrahim is a Christian and is eight months pregnant. He said in a CNN interview that he is so frustrated and the only he can do is pray. 

The court convicted Ibrahim of adultery because of her marriage to Wani who is a Christian. Under Sharia law, their marriage is considered void. Ibrahim will also receive 100 lashes as part of her punishment. 

However, the court's verdict is not yet final. 

According to Fatih Izz Al-Dee, speaker of the Sudanese parliament, the finality of the verdict rest in the judiciary's hands. During a radio interview, Al-Dee said that it will still go through several judicial stages before it reaches the constitutional court. 

Ibrahim's father is a Sudanese Muslim, while her mother is an Ethiopian Orthodox. She was raised as a Christian when her father left when she was still six-years-old. 

She held onto her Christian faith despite warnings from the Sudanese government to renounce it last Thursday. 

Ibrahim, who is pregnant with her second child, has been languishing in jail because her request to be transferred to a private hospital was denied. Her 20-month-old baby is also with her behind bars and has been repeatedly falling ill due to unhygienic conditions inside the jail.

Various international human rights groups and foreign embassies condemned the Sudanese government's verdict. Foreign embassies such as those of the US, UK and Canada have urged the Sudanese government to reverse its decision. 

Manar Idriss, a researcher of Amnesty International's Sudan office, said the action of the government to sentence someone to death on the basis of religion is abhorrent.

TagsDeath Sentence, Apostasy, Flogging, Imprisonment, Sudan, Christians