Sudan to free death-row Christian lady ‘in days’

The Sudanese lady sentenced to death for abandoning Islam will be freed soon, the BBC has reported.

Meriam Ibrahim’s case had drawn global attention as a Sudanese court dissolved her marriage and sentenced her to 100 lashes for marrying a Christian.

She was then sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy ─ for abandoning her father’s religion and for refusing to renounce Christianity after she was given a deadline.

Daniel Wani, a Christian and US citizen, married her in 2011 and they now have two children.

The lady, who was pregnant at the time of the sentence, has now given birth and was expected to nurse the baby for two years before being executed.

But Meriam, 27, claimed she was never a Muslim and had been brought up as a Christian by her mother ─ although by law she was supposed to practise the religion of her father.

She was reported to the court by her relatives.

She will be now freed “in a few days”, Abdullahi Alzareg, an under-secretary at the foreign ministry, told the BBC.

He said Sudan guaranteed religious freedom and was committed to protecting the woman.

Khartoum has been facing international condemnation over the death sentence.

In an interview with The Times newspaper, British Prime Minister David Cameron described the ruling as “barbaric” and out of step with today’s world.

The UK Foreign Office this week said that it would push for Ms Ibrahim to be released on humanitarian grounds.

Sudan has a majority Muslim population and Islamic law has been in force there since the 1980s.