Apostasy: Sudanese Court Overturns Death Sentence

An appeal court in central Sudan has ordered the release of a woman on death row for marrying a Christian and refusing to convert back to Islam. Meriam Ibrahim’s death penalty was upturned on Monday in by an appeal court in Khartoum.

She was married to a Christian man and a Sharia Court found her guilty of apostasy and adultery on May 11, and was sentenced to death by hanging.

Ibrahim was also sentenced to 100 lashes for committing adultery as her 2012 marriage to Daniel Wani was considered invalid under Sudan’s Islamic Sharia laws.

The woman, who was pregnant when sentenced, gave birth to a baby girl in prison in late May.

One of her lawyers, Elshareef Ali Mohammed, who expressed doubt over the announcement said :

    "We are going to the prison now to find out more details, We heard it just now on the state radio. We really hope it's true."

Only last month, precisely May 31st, a Sudanese Foreign Affairs official in London had claimed that the Sudanese government would soon release her but this was immediately denied by the Sudanese Government stating the  authority of setting her free was solely the responsibility of the courts.