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Lapo Pistelli/Facebook
A SUDANESE WOMAN who was spared a death sentence for converting from Islam and who was then barred from leaving the African country has arrived in Italy after spending over a month in the US embassy in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, the BBC reports.
27-year-old Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag was sentenced to death in May for apostasy from Islam, under Islamic sharia law that has been in force in Sudan since 1983 and outlaws conversions on pain of death.
An appeals court later quashed the verdict and sentence.
Her case has raised questions of religious freedom and sparked deep concern among Western governments and human rights activists.
Ishag was born to a Muslim father who abandoned the family, leaving her to be raised by her Ethiopian Orthodox Christian mother, according to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum, which said she joined the Catholic church shortly before she married.
According to the Reuters report on her arrival in Italy, there are no clear details at the moment on what led up to her departure from Khartoum.
There’s been no comment from the Sudanese authorities as yet either.
Lapo Pistelli, Italy’s vice-minister for foreign Affairs, posted the above photo of himself with Ishag and her children on his Facebook as they were descending into Rome.
Includes reporting from AFP.
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Yes, this deserved an article. The whole country will sleep better knowing the Luas is back up and running.
@Liam Byrne: handy to know if you need to use it for work in the morning
@Liam Byrne: In fairness Liam , 90,000 people use the Luas every day , but more importantly they’re Dubs , and they have to carry the Sam around .
Only joking , I see lots of unhappy comments on the Dubcentric reporting during the storm . Infrastructure , country wide needs to be looked at in light of recent events and austerity .
@Liam Byrne: you obviously don’t rely on it
@Liam Byrne: If, like me, you spent one and a half hours getting home after work today, instead of the usual half an hour on the luas, you would certainly be interested.
@Zmeevo Libe: I never said people didn’t want to know.
Well done Luas crew, fair play.
Clap, clap, clap.
Why was it out in the first place?
@Grotmaster:
Their control centre at the Red Cow depot got quite badly damaged in the storm and was knocked out of action, so they shut down the whole system. A bit drastic?…
@Ewan O’Doherty: Probably not.
Well done to Roofer’s at Select Roofing Ltd, for repairing the roof of the control centre and get the Luas up and running.
Read this on the bus home!
The organised pick pockets will be back to work
have your say