DUBFLY
11-29-2007, 09:25 AM
U.K. teacher in Sudan court in teddy bear case
She’s likely to be charged after letting class name teddy bear ‘Muhammad’
Harsh punishment for British teacher
Nov. 28: A 54-year-old British teacher in Sudan faces 40 lashes and prison time
if found guilty of insulting Islam with a teddy bear. Ned Colt reports.
Nightly News
updated 5:16 a.m. ET, Thurs., Nov. 29, 2007
KHARTOUM, Sudan - A British teacher accused of insulting Muslims after her class
called a teddy bear Mohammed arrived Thursday at the Khartoum courthouse where
she is expected to face formal charges.
British embassy representatives met Gillian Gibbons, 54, on her arrival from
detention in Khartoum North and accompanied her into the courthouse. Court
officers prevented reporters from entering the courtroom and said the session
would be closed. Sudanese state media said Wednesday that Gibbons was being
charged with insulting Islam, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious
beliefs. If convicted, she could face 40 lashes, a fine, or one year in jail.
The defense has called several eyewitnesses including colleagues from Unity High
School in Khartoum and a teaching assistant who was inside the classroom with
Gibbons during the naming of the teddy bear, a defense source told Reuters.
Fellow teachers said they did not believe Gibbons had intended to insult Muslims
and had made an innocent mistake in endorsing a name chosen by the school
children.‘Surprised and disappointed’
In London on Wednesday, a Foreign Office spokesman confirmed Gibbons had been
charged and officials said Foreign Secretary David Miliband was calling in the
Sudanese ambassador.
"We are surprised and disappointed by this development and the foreign secretary
will summon as a matter of urgency the Sudanese ambassador to discuss this
matter further," Prime Minister Gordon Brown's official spokesman said.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "We are
following the situation of the British teacher closely and with concern."
A statement from the Sudanese embassy in London said the case came in response
to parents' complaints.
"It is now a police case and the temptation to treat it as a media sensation
should be resisted. We certainly do not wish to resort to 'trial by media'."
She’s likely to be charged after letting class name teddy bear ‘Muhammad’
Harsh punishment for British teacher
Nov. 28: A 54-year-old British teacher in Sudan faces 40 lashes and prison time
if found guilty of insulting Islam with a teddy bear. Ned Colt reports.
Nightly News
updated 5:16 a.m. ET, Thurs., Nov. 29, 2007
KHARTOUM, Sudan - A British teacher accused of insulting Muslims after her class
called a teddy bear Mohammed arrived Thursday at the Khartoum courthouse where
she is expected to face formal charges.
British embassy representatives met Gillian Gibbons, 54, on her arrival from
detention in Khartoum North and accompanied her into the courthouse. Court
officers prevented reporters from entering the courtroom and said the session
would be closed. Sudanese state media said Wednesday that Gibbons was being
charged with insulting Islam, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious
beliefs. If convicted, she could face 40 lashes, a fine, or one year in jail.
The defense has called several eyewitnesses including colleagues from Unity High
School in Khartoum and a teaching assistant who was inside the classroom with
Gibbons during the naming of the teddy bear, a defense source told Reuters.
Fellow teachers said they did not believe Gibbons had intended to insult Muslims
and had made an innocent mistake in endorsing a name chosen by the school
children.‘Surprised and disappointed’
In London on Wednesday, a Foreign Office spokesman confirmed Gibbons had been
charged and officials said Foreign Secretary David Miliband was calling in the
Sudanese ambassador.
"We are surprised and disappointed by this development and the foreign secretary
will summon as a matter of urgency the Sudanese ambassador to discuss this
matter further," Prime Minister Gordon Brown's official spokesman said.
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "We are
following the situation of the British teacher closely and with concern."
A statement from the Sudanese embassy in London said the case came in response
to parents' complaints.
"It is now a police case and the temptation to treat it as a media sensation
should be resisted. We certainly do not wish to resort to 'trial by media'."