Christian Entity Concerned about Sudanese Couple’s Prosecution for Converting from Islam

Her family filed a criminal case against the couple; they were arrested and charged with adultery.

In a Thursday, January 13 report, CSW Founder President says officials of the human rights organization are “deeply concerned by the criminal prosecution of Ms. Koko and Mr. Kaffi, whose case highlights the fact that the failure to reform Sudan’s legal landscape has opened the door to legal harassment.”

“We call for the immediate dismissal of criminal charges against this couple, and urge further legal reform to ensure that the right to freedom of religion or belief, including the right to change one’s religion or belief, is fully guaranteed to every Sudanese citizen,” Mr. Mervyn Thomas said. 

Sudan decriminalized apostasy in July 2020. 

CSW officials express concern about the prosecution's failure to adhere to the law as Ms. Koko was charged for converting to Christianity. 

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CSW Founder President says the case “illustrates the importance of adopting a gender perspective within the broader legal reform process.”  

Mr. Mervyn adds that the prosecution of Koko and Kaffi is in the context of the military coup army’s "objective of systematically obstructing and reversing the progressive advances made during the transitional period.”

The case against Ms. Koko and Mr. Kaffi is similar to that of Meriam Ibrahim, a Sudanese Christian woman who faced trial for apostasy and adultery in 2014. 

A Sudanese court ruled that Ms. Ibrahim was a Muslim because that was her father’s religious identity despite the fact that she had never practiced Islam. 

Ms. Ibrahim was freed from death row in 2018