Sudan frees Christian woman sentenced to death

KHARTOUM, Sudan – A Christian woman in Sudan sentenced to death last month for apostasy was released Monday after her conviction was overturned by Khartoum’s appeal court, according to her lawyer.

The appeal court Monday ordered Meriam Yehya Ibrahim’s release after hearing her appeal.

Ibrahim, 27, recently gave birth to her second child in Omdurman’s women’s prison from her marriage to Daniel Wani, an American Christian from South Sudan. She was jailed in February with her first child, Martin, after a family member reported her to the authorities over her marriage to a non-Muslim.

A court convicted Ibrahim last month and sentenced her to death by hanging for apostasy, even though she insisted she had been raised a Christian by her Ethiopian Christian mother and had never been a Muslim. The court also ruled her 2011 marriage to Wani invalid and sentenced her to 100 lashes for adultery.

The conviction and sentences were condemned by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Western governments.