KHARTOUM, Sudan — BBC News and NBC News have reported that a Sudanese woman, released from death row Monday by an appeals court in Sudan, has been re-arrested Tuesday with her family at a Sudanese airport.

According to NBC, Meriam Ibrahim's lawyer, Elshareef Ali Mohammed, said "a group of 50 security force personnel arrested her during an angry confrontation at the airport in the capital, Khartoum."

"Mohammed, who was at the airport with Ibrahim, said the security forces did not give him a reason for her re-arrest and made no reference to her dropped case, even when he identified himself as her lawyer," according to NBC. "He said Ibrahim had been taken to a detention center, accompanied by her two children and husband, Daniel Wani, who insisted on going with her."

The lawyer told NBC he had no more information: "They knew she had been cleared by the court, but they have re-arrested her — I don't know why."

Family members and religious-liberty advocates had applauded the news that the death sentence for refusing to renounce her Christian faith had been overturned by an appeals court after months of international outcry.

“We are very, very happy about this — and we’re going to her now,” her lawyer told the BBC. “They have released her. ... She’s on her way to home.”

Ibrahim, 27, had been charged with abandoning Islam under Sudanese law. Because her father was a Muslim, Ibrahim was legally considered a Muslim, even though her mother raised her as a Christian after her father left the family when she was 6 years old.

Despite pressure and threats of death, Ibrahim had refused to renounce her Christian faith while in prison.

Her husband told the BBC that he was looking forward to seeing his wife and wanted his family to leave Sudan as soon as possible. The couple’s young son, Martin, has lived in prison with his mother since February. Ibrahim gave birth to their second child, a baby girl, while in prison in May.

Besides the crime of apostasy — or the abandoning of the Islamic faith — Ibrahim was also charged with adultery. Her marriage to her Christian husband was not considered valid since she was considered a Muslim.

She was to receive 100 lashes for the adultery charge and was sentenced to death by hanging for apostasy.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., who had written twice asking U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to intervene on Ibrahim’s behalf, released a celebratory statement on the release of Ibrahim from prison:

“I am very pleased that the Sudanese court has reportedly canceled Meriam Ibrahim’s death sentence and ordered her release. I continue to urge U.S. officials to work quickly and use all resources available to immediately provide Meriam and her family with safe haven in the United States.”

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., chairman of a congressional global human-rights subcommittee, met with the Sudanese ambassador to the U.S. on June 20 to discuss the Meriam Ibrahim case. He said releasing Ibrahim from prison was a good first step.

“But the second step is that Mrs. Ibrahim and her husband and their children be on a plane and heading to the United States,” Smith said.

Mohammed told the BBC that Ibrahim’s courage and strong position while in prison could deter the Sudanese government from prosecuting similar cases.

“It’s a victory for freedom of religion in Sudan,” he said. “By Meriam’s strong position, we believe that in the future no one will be subjected to such a trial.”