Meriam Yehya Ibrahim, Sudanese Mother On Death Row, 'To Be Freed'

Meriam Ibrahim 'To Be Freed'
|

The Sudanese woman who gave birth on death row is to be freed according to reports.

But the good news has been tempered by Meriam Ibrahim's lawyers who clam it is a ploy by officials to silence the international outcry surrounding her case.

Ibrahim was sentenced to death by hanging by a Sudanese court after failing to renounce her faith when marrying a fellow Christian.

Open Image Modal

Meriam Yehya Ibrahim (pictured here with husband Daniel Wani) has given birth to a baby girl in a Sudanese prison

Despite being pregnant her 2011 marriage was annulled and she was sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery.

Ibrahim delivered a baby girl five days prematurely in prison on Tuesday.

The infant was born in the hospital wing at Omdurman Federal Women’s Prison in North Khartoum.

David Cameron had urged the Sudanese government to lift the "barbaric" death sentence handed to her while Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg and Tony Blair also condemned the treatment.

Last week Tina Ramirez, executive director of Hardwired, a US-based advocacy group against religious persecution, told the New York Daily News Ibrahim’s feet were shackled and her legs were swollen.

“It’s just outrageous. She’s eight and a-half months pregnant."

Wani is appealing his wife's execution, which officials said won't be held until after Ibrahim gives birth and nurses her infant.

The father is not even allowed to care for Martin because he is a Christian and his son is considered a Muslim.

Wani now lives in Manchester, New Hampshire with his brother Gabriel, who told WMUR that his sibling had returned home to do everything he could to save his wife.

Gabriel Wani said: "I’m just praying for God. He can do a miracle. Everyone is depressed. You don’t believe it. It’s shock."

Sudan has a majority Muslim population, which is governed by Islamic law. It rules that apostasy - the abandonment of one's religious faith - is a crime.

"The fact that a woman has been sentenced to death for her religious choice, and to flogging for being married to a man of an allegedly different religion is appalling and abhorrent," Manar Idriss, Amnesty International's Sudan researcher, said in an earlier statement.

"Adultery and apostasy are acts which should not be considered crimes at all. It is flagrant breach of international human rights law."

Earlier in the hearing, an Islamic cleric spoke with Ibrahim in a caged dock for about 30 minutes, AFP reported.

Then she calmly told the judge: "I am a Christian and I never committed apostasy," NBC news reported.