Posted on 11/29/2007 8:48:43 PM PST by Huntress
The British teacher who let her pupils call a teddy bear Mohammed escaped a flogging yesterday - but must now endure 15 days in a notorious Sudan jail.
Gillian Gibbons will be incarcerated at the squalid Omdurman women's prison in Khartoum, which is massively overcrowded and infested with mosquitoes. The 54-year-old from Liverpool was said to be "stunned" by the sentence imposed for insulting Islam - after which she will be deported from Sudan.
Last night, her conviction and punishment were furiously condemned and the Foreign Office was criticised for not fighting her case more forcefully.
"The sentence is a mockery of justice and we consider Gillian to be a prisoner of conscience," said Mike Blakemore, of Amnesty International.
Malcolm Moss, a Tory member of the Commons foreign affairs committee, said: "This is disgraceful. She only named a teddy bear and she is serving 15 days in jail.
"It is tokenism by the Sudanese government. If they had really felt she had insulted Islam, they would have sentenced her to much longer. It seems they are scoring points.
"Our government dithered over intervening and this is what happens. We should have been a lot tougher, a lot sooner."
Foreign Secretary David Miliband called in the Sudanese ambassador for the second time in hours last night to protest over the verdict. He said: "We are extremely disappointed that the charges were not dismissed.
"Our clear view is that this is an innocent misunderstanding by a dedicated teacher. Our priority now is to ensure Mrs Gibbons' welfare and wellbeing."
Mrs Gibbons's MP, Louise Ellman, said: "I do realise that the sentence could have been harder, but 15 days in a jail in Sudan could be very, very harsh.
"I think there's distress and anger and I can't see much positive that has come from this. The sentence could have been harsher, but that's not exactly a positive thing at all."
The Omdurman prison where Mrs Gibbon will be locked up was built for 200, but now houses 1,200 women and 300 children, most of the adults jailed for illegally brewing alcohol.
Last night, her son John said the family are struggling to take in the news of her punishment. "It's really difficult at the moment, my head is everywhere," the 25-year-old marketing consultant added.
"I don't want the verdict to lead to any anti feeling towards Muslims. Everyone has been very nice, but one of my fears, and I imagine my mother's also, will be that this results in any sort of resentment towards Muslim people."
He is hoping to visit his mother in jail and urged the Foreign Office to help speed up the visa process.
The Muslim Council of Britain called the sentence completely unjustified.
"I'm utterly disappointed with this decision," said the council's Ibrahim Mogra. "We have been calling on the Sudanese authorities to show leniency, that this was a case of an innocent oversight, a misunderstanding, and there was no need for this to be escalated."
The verdict came at the end of a day of drama and farce in Khartoum that saw British diplomats initially prevented from entering the court.
Defence lawyers said they would appeal. But with the Sudan authorities planning a major security operation today amid expected protests by hardline Islamic leaders urging tougher sentencing, there were fears the tactic could backfire.
British officials said they would be pressing for a reduction in sentence, and the five days Mrs Gibbons has already spent in custody might count against the 15 to be served.
The Sudanese authorities were also said to have started preparing deportation documents for this weekend, leading to speculation she could be freed as early as tomorrow.
Ali Mohammed Ajab, a member of her defence team, described the verdict as "very unfair".
He said: "She apologised to the court - not that she had done something wrong - but said she was simply doing her job and did not mean any harm."
Sudan's top Muslim clerics had pressed their government to ensure the teacher was punished harshly, comparing her action to author Salman Rushdie's "blasphemies" against the Prophet.
Mrs Gibbons, a divorced mother-of-two, was arrested on Sunday and on Wednesday charged with insulting Islam, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs.
It came after seven-year-old pupils chose to call a teddy bear Mohammed at the Unity High School in Khartoum, where she had worked since August.
During the court case behind closed doors yesterday it was revealed that the school's office assistant, Sara Khawad, had complained to the education authorities - leading to the teacher's arrest.
In a statement read to court, Mrs Gibbons tearfully stressed she had not meant to cause offence and pointed out that it had been her pupils who had chosen the name.
There were four prosecution witnesses, and several spoke up for the defence.
Isam Abu Hasabu, chairman of Unity High School's parent-teacher association, said: "The whole thing boiled down to a cultural misunderstanding. In our culture, we don't know the bear as a cuddly symbol of mercy."
Other teachers said many parents had written to the school offering support.
The school's Sudanese director, Robert Boulos, described Mrs Gibbons as "a marvellous teacher", adding: "She was even training our other primary teachers and is an asset to the school.'"
I hope Mrs. Gibbons' daughter is just saying this to spare her mother more torment until she is out of Sudan. If this happened to a member of my family, I would have an abundance of ill will toward Islam.
I’m sorry for the ruling, but sometimes liberals need a strong knock in the head to realize that conservatism has some very good points in its favor. After 15 days, this lady may change her politics.
I’m sure that there are a few decent muslim individuals who abhor what is happening to Mrs. Gibbons. Unfortunately, the Sudan is not a machete-free zone, so they won’t be speaking up.
I think you’re probably right. Right now, I’m concerned for the little boy (and his family) who spoke up for her and said the name was his idea.
I hope Mrs. Gibbons’ daughter is just saying this to spare her mother more torment until she is out of Sudan. If this happened to a member of my family, I would have an abundance of ill will toward Islam.
Yes, there’s cause for concern there.
“I think you’re probably right. Right now, I’m concerned for the little boy (and his family) who spoke up for her and said the name was his idea.”
He’ll probably just lose his hand. Modern medicine will prevent an infection though.
ROP Ping/shakes head.
Send in the fricken’ Royal Marines and kick some ass and rescue her. Besides, the scum running the place need killing, religion of peace my @—!
-—”I don’t want the verdict to lead to any anti feeling towards Muslims. Everyone has been very nice, but one of my fears, and I imagine my mother’s also, will be that this results in any sort of resentment towards Muslim people.”-—
Let me see. The good Muslims are putting your mother in a hellhole for 15 days over the naming of a teddy bear, while the middle of the road Muslims wanted to give her 40 lashes and a year, and the fervent Muslims wanted her put to death. Over the naming of a teddy bear...
If it were my mother I’d take up burning down their Mosques as a full time profession. No offense.
The kids in the class named their bear using the most popular boys name in the world. Governments like this deserve to be incinerated.
This did not happen to a member of my family, and I do have an abundance of ill will toward islam, the radical islam, the islam that the majority of "moderate" ( I'm told they really exist) refuses to denounce. A lot of ill will.
A great abundance.
FMCDH(BITS)
For some reason, I find this Teddy Bear business more chilling and ominous than even the steady occurrence of deadly and atrocious attacks. Perhaps it is in the element of betrayal by the "office assistant".
15 days is not much time
i hope given the politics involved the Sudanese will isolate and protect her and let her out early to get the gesture thing for themselves
poor naive woman
People do stupid things, and when they do, they need our help.
Lucky for us, our 'currency' still goes a long way.
Make me secretary of state and they'd be naming a national holiday after her while kissing my hiney.
your empathy is killing me..lol
I suggested to them to name their next one Mohamed, or Mo for short.
And pig farmers. Hey, why not call them Mo's instead of sows. And Miglets instead of piglets.
Any religion this threatened by the name of a teddy bear is no great religion. It is a farce.
Where’s the new boy wonder Prime Minister Brown in all this?
I’d have sent the SAS in a week ago and told Sudan to sit down and shut up—they aren’t taking my citizen anywhere.
All I see is a bunch of useless harrumphing by British twits, when someone needs to threaten the Sudanese with an offer they can’t refuse.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.