Thread: Briton Guilty of Insulting Islam

Briton Guilty of Insulting Islam
By ALFRED de MONTESQUIOU
Associated Press Writer


KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) — 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.

(This version CORRECTS that Gibbons was convicted of insulting Islam, not inciting religious hatred.)

Should we all now rename our family pets?

Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

Should we all now rename our family pets?

Come on now...no sense in losing our heads over this .

Anyway , don't you know that accusing islam radicals of violence can make them kill you .

Well, we have 20+ feral/semi-tame cats that we feed, 3 border collies, 14 cow/calve pairs and too many raccoons that visit us on the back porch. Most are named; but I've heard that pot-bellied pigs are also good pets. Maybe I'll get my daughter one and name it ...Muhammad. What's one more mouth to feed?

You know what I say? I say screw Muhammed.

And I'm so glad I live in a country where I'm allowed to say that without fear of having my head chopped off.

You know what I say? I say screw Muhammed.

I don't think we should go there.

Lets not blame Muhammed just because a few fanitics twist his words.
Muhammed is not the reason we were attacked on 9-11.

Lets not blame Jesus when Christian fanatics trash fallen troops at ther funerals or when they kill abortion doctors in the name of Jesus or at the time when in the name of religion they hung Blacks.

Would any of you consider naming your dog Jesus?

What I believe is significant about this case is where the uproar came from. It turned out to be an employee at the school playing 'let's you and them fight.' A troublemaker, in other words. Like the way people seize upon and inflame innocent or coincidental things in a political campaign sometimes. SHE didn't name the bear, the students actually did. She was railroaded out, probably due to resentment over foreign influence in that country. There was NO effort made to constructively correct the students' cultural faux pas. Instead, an immediate vendetta against the teacher. I smell dirty office politics here. The employee used the known radical elements of her society as a weapon in a personal grudge, that's what I suspect.

I cleaned out my cat's litterbox today and found a piece of poop that bears an uncanny resemblance of the prophet himself. I think I'll name it Muhammed and sell it on EBay.

Originally Posted by BetsyRoss

What I believe is significant about this case is where the uproar came from. It turned out to be an employee at the school playing 'let's you and them fight.' A troublemaker, in other words. Like the way people seize upon and inflame innocent or coincidental things in a political campaign sometimes. SHE didn't name the bear, the students actually did. She was railroaded out, probably due to resentment over foreign influence in that country. There was NO effort made to constructively correct the students' cultural faux pas. Instead, an immediate vendetta against the teacher. I smell dirty office politics here. The employee used the known radical elements of her society as a weapon in a personal grudge, that's what I suspect.

The teacher was probably singled out because she is white and British.

The US better stop pandering to all these radicals or it will get worse here.

Originally Posted by dyehard39

I don't think we should go there.

Lets not blame Muhammed just because a few fanitics twist his words.
Muhammed is not the reason we were attacked on 9-11.

Lets not blame Jesus when Christian fanatics trash fallen troops at ther funerals or when they kill abortion doctors in the name of Jesus or at the time when in the name of religion they hung Blacks.

Would any of you consider naming your dog Jesus?

Ummm...Didn't you get the memo?...from Bin Ladin?...I think it was titled "Allah Akbar!!". I'm sorry, but it's more than a "few" fanatics that are attacking us. Even the high level clerics in Saudi Arabia are spouting out this jihad crap.