SPRINGFIELD, Ore. (KMTR) -- A woman awaiting her husband got good news last week when she learned that he was released from a Sudanese jail and allowed to return home.
Nancy Dawod spoke with NewsSource 16 earlier this month and told the timeline of her husband Rudwan's trip overseas. Rudwan Dawod, who is originally from Sudan, is an activist who fights for peace, democracy and freedom in his country, according to Nancy.
On July 3rd, Rudwan was out on the streets peacefully protesting when he was captured, beaten unconscious and imprisoned facing terrorism charges. Sudan officials accused him of wanting to bomb their country.
"He was very strong, his morale was very good," Nancy said. "We had lots of friends visiting him in the Amdranam Prison that would update me."
More than a month later, the day Nancy had nervously anticipated, Rudwan was let go and acquitted of his charges - charges that brought the death penalty - and allowed to fly back to the US after paying a small fine. His friends paid the fee up front before they even left the court house.
"I was celebrating, sharing the news with my family, and about twenty minutes, a half hour, we got another update from Twitter saying he's been rearrested," Nancy recalled.
Minutes later, Rudwan was re-arrested. Police began asking him questions, but this time, officials held a lot more respect toward him.
"There was a lot of investigation about why he had received so much international support because they had arrested a lot of people and it was only Rudwan really that was receiving such support," Nancy said.
At that point, Nancy had not talked to her husband in more than a year. She said it was difficult translating some of the Tweets, so at one point, through an internet translation service, she thought Rudwan had been killed.
Nancy told NewsSource 16 Sudanese police thought he was CIA or even a spy. She added that it has been the continued support from media and the US government that will bring Rudwan home in time to welcome the couple's first baby girl, Sudan Nialah, "Nylie" for short.
"What I would really like to say is thank you. Thank you, thank you to the media and to the government," Nancy said. "We all love him so much."
Nancy said they are still so supportive of Sudan and hope to live there again. Rudwan was released with the understanding that he would leave the country as soon as possible and that he wouldn't return.
"Someday we'll both live together there, I'm sure, inshallah, but it is in our future," she explained.
Nancy said her family will wait until it is safer, but that it is important to them to show their daughter their background.
