Teddy Bear Gets Teacher Prison, Deportation
CBN News
November 29, 2007
CBNNews.com - A British teacher in Sudan was found guilty of "inciting religious hatred" after naming a teddy bear "Muhammad."
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The teacher, Gillian Gibbons, was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation from Sudan.
The director of the school employing Gibbons, however, noted that since she had already spent five days in prison, she would serve only 10 days.
"It's a very fair verdict, she could have had six months and lashes and a fine, and she only got 15 days and deportation," said Robert Boulos of the Unity High School, adding they would not appeal the decision.
Gibbons said her students chose the name for the bear themselves and it wasn't chosen to insult the founder of Islam.
The British newspaper "The Sun" reported one of the students suggested the name because his name is also "Muhammad."
The British government had been pressing the Sudanese to set Gibbons free but she was not released. Officials said they'd react the same way if the insults were of Jesus or Moses.
Unity High School, which was founded by Christians in Khartoum. The private school has elementary through high school levels and 90 percent of its students are Muslim, mostly from upper-class Sudanese families.
Gibbons is expected to serve out her sentence in the Omdurman women's prison near Khartoum.
Sources: CBN News, Associated Press
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