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Sudan court jails U.K. teacher for 15 days

Nairobi/Khartoum: The British primary school teacher accused of insulting Islam by allowing her seven-year-old pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad was on Thursday night sentenced to 15 days in prison by a judge in Sudan.

Gillian Gibbons (54), was found guilty of “insulting religion” after an eight-hour hearing in Khartoum north court. The maximum penalty she had faced was 40 lashes and six months in prison.

Ali Ageb, a member of Ms. Gibbons’ defence team, said he was “very unhappy” with the verdict and would appeal. “She did this as part of her profession as the teacher,” he told reporters outside the court. “She did not intend to insult anybody.”

Mr. Ageb said Ms. Gibbons, who was arrested on Sunday, had been calm when the verdict was announced. “I think she was expecting it,” he said.

Ms. Gibbons was sent to the Omdurman women’s prison, from where she will be deported after serving her sentence.

The U.K. Foreign Office said it was “extremely disappointed” by the sentence, and David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary, had again summoned the Sudanese ambassador Omer Siddig to explain the verdict.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Miliband had told Mr. Siddig of his “serious concerns” about the decision to charge Ms. Gibbons, calling the incident an “innocent misunderstanding”.

It had emerged earlier in the day that complaints about naming the teddy bear Muhammad had come from a fellow member of staff at the exclusive Unity High School where Ms. Gibbons was working.

Ms. Gibbons had arrived at the modern marble-and-steel court in the Sudanese capital shortly before 1 p.m. to answer charges of “insulting religion and inciting hatred”.

She appeared dejected and stared straight ahead as four blue-uniformed policemen escorted her into the courtroom.

Another group of policemen immediately barricaded the door, shouting and waving angrily for people to move away. The prosecution team was already inside, but Ms. Gibbons’ defence team was locked out. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2007

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