23 Jun 2014

Sudan’s Meriam Ibrahim released from jail

A 27-year-old woman who was sentenced to death by a Sudanese court last month for converting from Islam to Christianity has been released from prison, her lawyer says.

The case of Mariam Yahya Ibrahim, who is married to a Christian American, triggered an international outcry.

In June, Britain summoned the Sudanese charge d’affaires in protest at the sentencing.

“The appeal court ordered the release of Mariam Yahya and the cancellation of the (previous) court ruling,” Sudan’s SUNA news agency said.

Her lawyer had confirmed that she has now left prison.

A government official told Reuters on 31 May that Sudanese officials were working to release Ibrahim.

Ibrahim was sentenced to 100 lashes for what it deemed her adultery for marrying a Christian.

She argued that she was never a Muslim, because her Muslim father abandoned the family when she was six years old and her Christian mother raised her in her own religion.

But the court ruled that she had “abandoned” Islam – a crime punishable by death in Sudan.

She gave birth in prison to a daughter, her second child by her American husband Daniel Wani.