Sudanese Christian Meriam Ibrahim freed from prison; Court orders release

Meriam Ibrahim with her children, Martin and Maya.CNN video screenshot

Imprisoned Christian Meriam Ibrahim will be released from prison, her lawyer has confirmed.

Ibrahim faced a death sentence and 100 lashes for apostasy, and has been jailed since January. Her case was pending in appeals court.

"The appeal court ordered the release of Mariam Yahya and the cancellation of the (previous) court ruling," Sudan's state news agency, SUNA, reported.

According to Ibrahim's attorney, Eman Abdul-Rahim, the grounds of the appeal were that there were procedural errors during the first trial.

Although she was raised by an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian mother, Ibrahim is considered Muslim because this was the faith of her estranged father. Her 20-month-old son, Martin, and four-week-old daughter, Maya, were in prison with her.

Ibrahim's husband, Daniel Wani, reported two weeks ago that he received notice that an appellate court has begun deliberating his wife's case. If the appeal had been denied, Ibrahim would have been hung when her daughter turned two years old. Wani hoped that the international outcry since news of her sentence spread would lead to her release.

"Given the way people have come together around the world—which I want to thank them for—all the rights groups, all the broadcasters... It's looking like it had an effect. Perhaps it will result in the judgment being overturned," he told CNN earlier this month.

Over 40,000 Americans signed a WhiteHouse.gov petition urging the U.S. to secure Ibrahim's release from prison, and grant her asylum.

Wani is a biochemical engineer living in Manchester, New Hampshire, and his senators wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry last month asking him to intervene on behalf of Ibrahim. The United Nations also condemned her sentence.

Shortly after his daughter's birth, Wani confirmed that Ibrahim was willing to die for her Christian faith.

"I know my wife. She's committed," Wani told CNN. "Even last week, they brought in sheikhs and she told them, 'I'm pretty sure I'm not going to change my mind.'"