Meriam Yahia Ibrahim Ishag, a Sudanese Christian who had been sentenced to hang for apostasy – the renunciation of ones religious or political belief, here used as a charge in relation to abandoning her religion – was finally freed on Monday.

The case of the 26 year old woman had sparked an outcry from Western governments and rights groups after a judge sentenced her to death on May 15 for allegedly converting from Islam to Christianity.

Twelve days after the court issued its verdict; Ishag gave birth to a baby girl at the women’s prison in Khartoum’s twin city of Omdurman, where she was being held.

According to one of her attorney’s, Mohanad Mustafa, Ishag went into hiding after her release, fearing for her life after the numerous death threats sent to her and her legal team.

Ishag was convicted under Islamic sharia law which has been in force in Sudan since 1983 and outlaws conversions on pain of death.

A statement from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Khartoum said that Igad has never been a Muslim really and was only born to a Muslim father and an Ethiopian Orthodox Christian mother. Her Sudanese Muslim father allegedly abandoned the family when Ishag was five, leaving her to be raised according to her mother’s faith.

It’s believed that the massive pressure from Western governments is what has led to the woman’s release.

US Secretary of State John Kerry had urged Khartoum to repeal its laws banning Muslims from converting and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron had condemned the ruling terming it “barbaric and has no place in today’s world”.