Teacher arrested over Teddy bear insult
Posted on Wednesday, November 28, 2007 @ 08:19:50 PST by infidelguy
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Monday, 26th November 2007. 2:41pm
By: Sam Forrest.
A BRITISH primary school teacher has been arrested in Sudan after allowing her pupils to name a Teddy bear after the Muslim prophet Muhammad.
Gillian Gibbons, who is 54 and from Liverpool in England, was arrested on Sunday for insulting the Prophet. Her colleagues at the Unity School said it was an ‘innocent mistake’ to allow the pupils, aged between six and seven, to use the name.
The British Embassy in Khartoum said they were investigating the matter, adding that it was unclear whether or not she had been charged.
"We are in contact with the authorities here and they have visited the teacher and she is in a good condition," an embassy spokesman said.
The incident allegedly happened in September, just a month after the teacher joined the school, but she was arrested after several complaints were made. If convicted she could face a sentence of up to six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.
Although Sudan is a predominantly Muslim country, just over a quarter of its population are Christian, mainly in the south. While the school is run by Christian groups, it also admits Muslim children.
The Unity School has now been closed as teachers fear reprisals, but the school’s director, Robert Boulos, said: "This is a very sensitive issue. We are very worried about her safety. This was a completely innocent mistake. Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."
The point of asking the children to name the teddy bear was to help to teach the children about voting, but at the centre of the row seems to have been a notebook the children used to keep a diary. It was marked on the front with a picture of the bear and the words ‘My name is Muhammad’.
The Sudanese Media Centre said that charges were being prepared under the country’s criminal law which covers insults about religion.
Original Article:
http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk/news/?NewsID=1232
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Ahh, the wonders of deep religious conviction. In this country, we can insult Jeebus all we want, so far. If the religious "wrong" in this country have their way, it would be a crime to challenge Christianity at all. We know this is true as their have been attempts already to make it illegal to say anything foul about Christianity. Wow, we are just "One stone throw away." Scary.
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