(Courthouse News) The European Court of Human Rights heard arguments Wednesday over whether Norway violated the religious rights of a Muslim woman whose child was forcibly adopted by Christians.
During a remote hearing before the ECHR, lawyers for Mariya Ibrahim argued the country not only violated her right to family life but also her right to religious freedom when it allowed her son to be adopted by an evangelical Christian couple against her wishes.
“For any parent, to raise a child in accordance with their religious … belief is a direct manifestation of their right to religious belief,” lawyer Anna Lutina told the 13-judge panel. She sat next to her client during the hearing.
Ibrahim became pregnant at 16 and was threatened by the terrorist group al-Shabaab for being unmarried.
