Sudan apostasy: Meriam Ibrahim's lawyers take case to international commission

Meriam Ibrahim's lawyers submit appeal to the African Commission on Human Rights after Sudan government backtracks on plans to release her

Lawyers for Meriam Ibrahim, the Sudanese woman sentenced to death for apostasy, are appealing to the African Commission on Human Rights in a bid to secure her freedom – after the pledge that she would be released "within days" was denied by the government.

Ms Ibrahim, 27, has been in prison in Khartoum, the Sudanese capital, since January on charges of apostasy – abandoning the Muslim faith – and adultery – because the court did not recognise her Christian marriage. On May 15 a judge ruled that she should be hanged, even though the mother-of-two testified that she had been raised as a Christian, and therefore had not "left" Islam.

"Sudan has ratified the African charter on human and people's rights," said Elshareef Ali Mohammed, a lawyer representing Ms Ibrahim and her husband Daniel Wani. "The charter states that apostasy is not a crime – and so Sudan should never have brought this case in the first place."

Mr Elshareef and his colleagues told The Telegraph that they have also submitted an appeal to the court in Khartoum – although, to their bemusement, the court on Monday was claiming that they had not received the paperwork.

The renewed attempts to secure her freedom followed a weekend of bizarre and conflicting reports about her case. Keep reading