Briton Guilty in Sudan Blasphemy Case
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU,AP
Posted: 2007-11-29 17:05:02
Filed Under: World News
KHARTOUM, Sudan (Nov. 29) - A British teacher in Sudan was convicted Thursday of the less-serious charge of insulting Islam for letting her pupils name a teddy bear "Muhammad," and was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation to Britain, one of her lawyers said.
Gillian Gibbons could have received 40 lashes and six months in prison in the case if found guilty of the more serious charge of inciting religious hatred and given the maximum penalty.
In London, the Foreign Office said it was "extremely disappointed with the sentence," adding that Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoned the Sudanese ambassador to explain the verdict.
Gibbons, 54, was arrested Sunday after complaints to the Education Ministry that she had insulted Prophet Muhammad, the most revered figure in Islam, by applying his name to a teddy bear.
She was found guilty of "insulting the faith of Muslims in Sudan" under Article 125 of the Sudanese criminal code, a less-serious charge than the original count of inciting religious hatred, said Ali Mohammed Ajab, a member of her defense team.
The charge later was confirmed by a judge who was leaving the closed court session.
"I feel this is very serious and very unfair," Ajab told The Associated Press outside court. Ajab, who also works for the Khartoum Center for Human Rights, said the issue was raised by "hard-liners who are always trying to make some noise," in an apparent reference to religious conservatives.
Ajab said his center would appeal the verdict.
Gibbons' employer, Robert Boulos of the Unity High School, called it "a very fair verdict."
"She could have had six months and lashes and a fine, and she only got 15 days and deportation," Boulos said. He noted that she would only spend 10 days in prison, having already served five.
Gibbons is expected to serve her sentence in the Omdurman women's prison near Khartoum.
Religious conservatives in Sudan were outraged by the naming of the teddy bear, and defense lawyers reported receiving death threats.
"I am threatened, that's why I'm carrying a gun in court," defense lawyer Abdel Khalig Abdallah said, opening his coat to reveal a revolver during a break in the trial.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-11-29 15:51:11
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