At last; SUDANESE DEATH ROW MOTHER MERIAM FINALLY RELEASED BY POLICE, 'TO TRAVEL TO US'
Christian mother Meriam Ibrahim was pictured cradling her baby girl in the back
seat of a car on Thursday night moments after she was freed by the Sudanese
police.
Dr Ibrahim had been arrested at Khartoum airport on Tuesday
as she and her American husband Daniel Wani tried to leave the country.
The mother-of-two, who had been facing a death sentence for
converting to Christianity, was accused of trying to use forged travel
documents when she presented airport staff with emergency paperwork issued by
the U.S. embassy and South Sudan.
The 27-year-old doctor is expected to fly to South Sudan with her husband and two young children, before making her way to the U.S. to start a new life.
She has endured nine months of imprisonment after being
jailed for adultery and apostasy, for which she was sentenced to death and 100
lashes.
Dr Ibrahim, who gave birth to her daughter while shackled
to a prison floor last month, had finally been freed from the death sentence on
Monday but her hopes of escape were quickly cut short.
When she arrived at the airport she was taken back into
custody, causing concern for her family and human rights campaigners who had
fought for her release.
Her lawyer, Eman Abdul-Rahman, said she was freed on Thursday after pressure from foreign diplomats moved the government to release her.
Campaigners however have urged caution and said that they
will wait until Meriam actually gets out of Sudan before celebrating.
The US State Department is now under pressure to do
everything in its power to ensure her swift and safe passage after being
criticized by Senators for its response.
Dr Ibrahim’s release appeared chaotic as the Associated
Press initially said she had been freed, only for multiple media outlets and
MailOnline sources to say that she was in fact being kept in for another three
days.
Hours later it was revealed that she was being freed.
The Guardian said that Eman Abdul-Rahman, one of
her lawyers, said she had been released from a police station in the capital
Khartoum after pressure from foreign diplomats on the Sudanese government to
free her.
Also in custody with her in the police station cell in the
Sudanese capital Khartoum was her husband and their two children, Maya, one
month, and Martin, 21 months.
Dr Ibrahim was charged with obtaining a false travel
document and giving false information to immigration officials - and banned
from leaving Sudan.
The move was another twist of the knife as she tried to get
to America with her two children where she can live with her husband, a US
citizen, from Manchester, New Hampshire.
Comments
Post a Comment