Meriam Ibrahim: Sudanese Christian Woman Released From Death Row

Meriam Ibrahim, the 27-year-old Christian woman who was sentenced to death while pregnant for allegedly converting from Islam to Christianity, is being released from death row, according to reports from Sudan’s official news agency.

Meriam, the daughter of a Christian woman and a Muslim man, was sentenced to die for apostasy under Sudan’s Islamic Sharia laws. She gave birth to a baby in May and her execution was to be delayed until the baby is weaned.

Today, a Kartoum court canceled her sentence and ordered Meriam Ibrahim to be released, according to an ABC News report.

The heavily Islamic nation did not have a change of heart or of laws regarding executing people from converting to Islam, however. Rather, it appears that her lawyers were able to successfully make the case that Meriam Ibrahim was never a Muslim to start with, though making that case was difficult based on the fact that under Sudanese law children are required to follow the religion of their father. The legal details are not available yet, but a Sudanese appellate court found the initial judgment against Meriam Ibrahim faulty and ordered the woman who had to give birth to her child while in shackles released.

Sudan continues to be governed by Sharia law, which makes converting from Islam to any other religion a crime punishable by death. Further, Muslim women are forbidden to marry outside of their faith (the restriction does not apply to Muslim men, who are allowed to marry non-Muslim women). According to a CNNreport, several Sudanese have been convicted of converting from Islam, but to date the Sudanese state has managed to get them all to recant their faith rather than carrying out the death sentence. Ibrahim refused to recant her Christian faith.

Meriam Ibrahim’s case first came before the Sudanese courts because she had married and had children with an American Christian. Under Sharia, having sexual intercourse with her Christian husband is considered adultery. Family members accused her of converting from Islam, which led to her initial death sentence.

Now, Meriam Ibrahim has been released, but her location is unknown. According to a Times of India report, her lawyer, Mohaned Mostafa, expressed concern for her safety, saying “Her family had been threatened before and we are worried that someone might try to harm her.”

Groups as diverse as the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International and numerous Christian organizations have all called for Meriam Ibrahim’s release; today, it appears, their appeals have been answered and Meriam Ibrahim is free and – apparently, at least – free to practice her Christian faith.

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