Sudan: Meriam Ibrahim to be freed in few days

Meriam Ibrahim, who was sentenced to death for having abandoned the Islamic faith, are to freed by Sudanese authorities, a foreign ministry official says.

The woman, who gave birth to a daughter in custody, will be freed in a few days.

Abdullahi Alzareg, an under-secretary at the foreign ministry, said Sudan guaranteed religious freedom and was committed to protecting the woman.

Khartoum has been facing international condemnation over the death sentence.

Meriam Ibrahim, 27, was brought up as an Orthodox Christian, but a Sudanese judge ruled earlier this month that she should be regarded as Muslim because that had been her father’s faith.

She refused to renounce her Christianity and was sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy.

On Wednesday, Meriam Ibrahim gave birth to a daughter in her prison cell – the second child from her marriage in 2011 to Daniel Wani, a US citizen.

The court said Meriam Ibrahim would be allowed to nurse her baby for two years before the sentence was carried out.

The court had earlier annulled Meriam Ibrahim’s Christian marriage and sentenced her to 100 lashes for adultery because the union was not considered valid under Islamic law.

Sudan has a majority Muslim population and Islamic law has been in force there since the ’80s.