Sudan releases woman sentenced to death for refusing to recant her faith

A Sudanese woman sentenced to death for not renouncing her Christian faith was freed from prison on Monday, when an appeals court ruled that the judgment against her was faulty.

Meriam Ibrahim, 27, had been found guilty of apostasy and adultery last month while she was eight months pregnant, and was set to receive 100 lashes and then be hanged, CNN reports. One of Ibrahim's brothers, a Muslim, filed a complaint saying she was a Muslim and had married a Christian, which is illegal in Sudan. Ibrahim told the court she is a Christian, having been raised solely by her Ethiopian Orthodox mother after her Sudanese Muslim father left her family when she was 6.

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Ibrahim was told to renounce her Christianity during her sentencing on May 15, but refused, stating, "I am a Christian, and I will remain a Christian." She gave birth to her daughter later that month in prison. Now, the baby, her 20-month-old brother (who had also lived in the prison), and Ibrahim have been reunited with Ibrahim's husband, her attorney said.