Sudanese Nursing Mother, Sentenced To Death For Apostasy, To Be Freed
A Sudanese court ordered the release of a 27-year-old nursing mother, who was on death row for abandoning Islam, BBC reports.
The news was spread by the official Suna news agency on June 23, 2014, Monday. Convict’s lawyer, Elshareef Ali, has also confirmed this development:
Meriam, whose father was a Muslim but did not take care of her as a child, grew up in Christian traditions. She got married to a 27-year-old Christian, Daniel Wani, who is the citizen of South Sudan and the USA, in December 2011.
However, the court annulled the marriage and accused Meriam of apostasy, as a child must inherit religion of the father. The woman refused to renounce Christianity and was subsequently sentenced to death by hanging.
Her death sentence triggered an outrage of the international community. Leading global powers threatened that financial aid to Sudan will be stopped, if Meriam is executed. The Sudanese government made a U-turn and on June 1, 2014, promised to release the woman in the “coming few days”. Apparently, they kept their promise, despite it took them three weeks.
The news was spread by the official Suna news agency on June 23, 2014, Monday. Convict’s lawyer, Elshareef Ali, has also confirmed this development:
"We are very very happy about this – and we’re going to her now.Meriam Yahya Ibrahim Ishag was pregnant when a Sharia court in Sudan sentenced her to death by hanging for abandoning her faith. The execution was delayed for about two years in order to allow her to give birth and to nurse the baby. The prisoner has given birth to a bouncing baby girl in the end of May 2014.
"They have released her… she’s on her way to home," he said.
Meriam, whose father was a Muslim but did not take care of her as a child, grew up in Christian traditions. She got married to a 27-year-old Christian, Daniel Wani, who is the citizen of South Sudan and the USA, in December 2011.
However, the court annulled the marriage and accused Meriam of apostasy, as a child must inherit religion of the father. The woman refused to renounce Christianity and was subsequently sentenced to death by hanging.
Her death sentence triggered an outrage of the international community. Leading global powers threatened that financial aid to Sudan will be stopped, if Meriam is executed. The Sudanese government made a U-turn and on June 1, 2014, promised to release the woman in the “coming few days”. Apparently, they kept their promise, despite it took them three weeks.
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