Meriam Ibrahim faces a new charge from the Sudanese government even as diplomats attempt to clear the way for her and her family to leave the country.

Ibrahim, who until Monday faced a death sentence for leaving Islam, was freed when the court threw out the charges. She, her husband and two children attempted to board a plane Tuesday in Khartoum, only to be detained as Sudanese authorities scrutinised their travel documents.

She is in the custody of police in Sudan, said Marie Harf, deputy spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, during a press briefing Wednesday. Ibrahim’s husband, who is a naturalized American citizen, and their two young children are with her, Harf said.

She said U.S. embassy staff in Sudan is in contact with the family, had met with them Wednesday, and has provided them with supplies.

Sudan’s National Intelligence and Security Service said via its Facebook page Tuesday that it had “arrested” Ibrahim. Her lawyer, Elsherif Ali, told the BBC she was accused of forging travel documents, originating from South Sudan, which gained its independence from Sudan in 2011.

A Sudanese foreign ministry official, Abdullahi Alzareg, told the BBC that Ibrahim was Sudanese and should not have been using another country’s travel document, stamped with a U.S. visa.

“She came to the airport in an American embassy car – which was bullet proof and heavily guarded,” the BBC quoted Alzareg as saying.

“Everyone knows she is Sudanese. We know she is Sudanese. Imagine a British citizen trying to travel wherever, appearing at the airport carrying an emergency document from Costa Rica. This is a violation of immigration law anywhere in the world.” He added that Ibrahim would be asked to apply for a passport and exit visa on her release.

In its Facebook post, Sudan’s security service said it had summoned representatives of the embassies of the United States and of South Sudan.

The response from the U.S., Harf said Wednesday, “was they need to depart as quickly as possible, and should be kept safe.”

Read the original report of Meriam’s release from Tuesday 24 June:

Meriam Ibrahim’s death sentence for apostasy has been struck down by the court of appeal in Khartoum, Sudan.

Meriam Ibrahim, her husband, children and legal team. June 23, 2014. Photo: Hardwired, Inc.

“The release of Ibrahim was declared during a plea that was brought to the court of appeal by the Commission for the Defence of Women,” according to the national Sudan News Agency.

Ibrahim and her two children, a two-year-old son and a baby girl born this month, are believed to have been released from the prison in North Khartoum this afternoon. They had been detained in the jail since February.

One of Ibrahim’s lawyers, Mohamed Mostafa, told Agence France Presse that the “reasons for her release have not been made public.”

“We are very, very happy about this – and we’re going to her now,” another of her lawyers, Elshareef Ali, told the BBC.

Ibrahim, a 27-year-old Sudanese doctor who gave birth to her daughter while in shackles, had been condemned to death by hanging during a sentencing that was conducted May 15. The boy also was forced to stay in prison with his mother, as his father was refused custody because he is not Muslim.

“Today’s ruling is a small step to redressing the injustice done to Meriam. However, she should never have been prosecuted. Meriam was sentenced to death when eight months pregnant for something which should not be a crime,” said Sarah Jackson, Deputy Africa Director at Amnesty International.

The Executive Director of Hardwired Global, a social justice movement seeking to end religious oppression, Tina Ramirez said, “We are witnessing a historic moment – in the three decades of President Bashir’s brutal dictatorship millions have lost their lives, yet here stands one defenseless and innocent young pregnant woman who forced President Bashir to respect her dignity and religious freedom.”

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a Washington D.C. based group that uses litigation to press for religious and speech freedom, called the ruling a significant victory for religious freedom.

Protest to free Miriam Ibrahim n Madrid, Spain. June 11. 2014
HazteOir.org /Flickr/ Creative Commons

Previous court rulings had ordered her to receive 100 lashes for committing adultery as they did not recognise her marriage to Daniel Wani, a Catholic American. Under Sudan’s Sharia law, Muslim women are not allowed to marry Christian men.

“This is tremendous news,” said Jordan Sekulow, Executive Director of the ACLJ. “Her release is a powerful testimony to the millions of people around the world who have called for her release. This is truly a significant victory for religious freedom.”

The ACLJ took part in a global campaign by sending out a legal letter to the Sudanese government on behalf of 350,000 people outlining its violations of law and demanding freedom for Ibrahim and her American children.

Reasons for Ibrahim’s imprisonment

Ibrahim was accused of apostasy for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. The authorities had previously said that Ibrahim’s release would only be possible if she renounced her faith and divorced her husband, although Sudan’s 2005 interim constitution guarantees freedom of religion.

She was charged as a Muslim because her father was Muslim. However, Ibrahim claimed to be raised as a Christian because her mother is Orthodox Christian and her father left the family while she was young.

A June 11 statement released by the Catholic Church of Khartoum suggested that members of Ibrahim and Wani’s families may have been motivated by a desire to access the couple’s businesses, which includes a barber shop and agricultural products. It also said a lawyer who first dealt with the couple’s case in September 2013 was forced to stop representing them due to pressure from Ibrahim’s accusers, including her brother.

Some in Ibrahim’s current legal team have received threats from extremists who say their actions are “un-Islamic” and that they, too, should receive death sentences.

Agence France Presse also reported that extremist groups had lobbied the Sudanese government to uphold the sentence.