A court in Sudan has convicted a British teacher of inciting religious hatred by letting her class of seven-year-olds name a teddy bear Muhammad.
A defense lawyer says the court sentenced 54-year-old Gillian Gibbons Thursday to 15 days in prison, followed by deportation from Sudan.
Britain's Foreign Secretary, David Miliband says the incident was clearly an "innocent misunderstanding by a dedicated teacher," and he called in the Sudanese ambassador to explain the court's action.
The Muslim Council of Britain echoed the government's comments and said Sudan's handling of the case could damage Islam's image around the world.
The teacher asked her young students to write an imaginary diary for a teddy bear, as a writing exercise. The children decided to name the bear Muhammad, which is a common man's name in Sudan and other majority-Muslim countries.
Gibbons was arrested earlier this week, and court officials say the five days she has been in jail will be deducted from her 15-day sentence. Her trial took just a few hours Thursday, apparently in an effort to conclude the process before Friday prayers, when protests about the case are expected in the streets of Khartoum.
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2 comments:
Hey guys,
I personaly think they've gone way to far with this, but i'm not surprised. From an Atheist point of view, and not to be offensive against religions, i have several opinions to state. We live in a society that likes to believe in a "God" that we've never seen before, and thats floating arround in the sky. I think people have gone too far with this, and forget that whats implied in religion, is simply logical moral with a little bit of exageration. Think about it. If thou commit any act of violence, adultery or treason, you burn for a eternity in HELL. Doesn't that sound like your parents lying to you, to prevent you from doing something?
(I clicked the wrong button and ended the post).
Anyways, for naming a teddy bear Mohammed, i'm sorry to say, but thats not a good reason to go to jail for. They should be spending more time putting real criminals in jail instead. Thats like naming your toy dog Jesus. Think about it, somethings wrong with the picture.
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