Sinn Féin’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs, Seán Crowe TD, has welcomed the release of Meriam Ibrahim who was originally sentenced to death in Sudan for supposedly converting from Islam to Christianity.

Deputy Crowe said:

“I warmly welcome that Meriam Ibrahim has been released from person and the charges against her and death sentence have been lifted.

“The freedom to practise any religion or none is a fundamental human right and her case shocked people around the world.

“A court in Khartoum originally judged that she should receive 100 lashes for ‘adultery’ (because it did not recognise her Christian marriage) and that she should then be hanged for refusing to ‘return’ to Islam.

“Meriam Ibrahim was 8 months pregnant when arrested and, according to human rights organisations, she was forced to give birth in prison with her legs chained.

“Thankfully the court judgement has been overturned and Ms Ibrahim has been freed.

“Sinn Féin is a secular organisation that believes there should be a clear separation of church and state. Cases like this highlight how far we need to go until we have a more inclusive world which allows any person in any part of the world to freedom to choose any religion or none to follow.”

ENDS