Teacher jailed over 'Mohammad' teddy
November 30, 2007
A British teacher who was accused of insulting Muslims after her class called a teddy bear Mohammad has been sentenced to spend 15 days in jail. She has also been ordered deported.
The British Foreign Office expressed "regrets" at the verdict.
In London, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband told the Sudanese ambassador he was concerned about the teacher, 54-year-old Gillian Gibbons, who was arrested and charged after one of the school staff reported her to the authorities.
"We believe that this was an innocent misunderstanding," Miliband said in a statement.
A member of Gib-bons' defence team quoted the judge as saying he had wanted to finish the case yesterday.
Sudanese state media said on Wednesday that Gibbons faced charges of insulting Islam, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs because of the toy's name.
Gibbons had faced the possibility of 40 lashes, a fine, or one year in jail. While she was inside, Sudanese authorities just outside the building gave a man some 20 lashes with a stiff leather whip, metres (yards) away from where the British consul Russell Phillips was sitting waiting on a chair. What offence the victim had committed was not clear.
In court, judge Mohammed Youssef listened to two accounts -- one from school secretary Sarah Khawad, who filed the first complaint about the teddy bear's name, and one from the official who has been investigating the case, court sources said.
Author: Gleaner Reporter
Source: Jamaica Gleaner
