I caught the end of the late news, which said there had been riots in the Sudan, after the sentencing of British teacher, Gillian Gibbons. How naive I was, to think that the riots were protests over the severity of her sentence:
A crowd of about 1,000 young men streamed out of mosques to gather outside Khartoum's presidential palace, later marching to the British Embassy and burning newspapers bearing images of 54-year-old Gillian Gibbons. The crowd demanded that the teacher be executed following her conviction on charges of blasphemy.
Gibbons was sentenced to 15 days in prison for naming the class teddy bear, Mohammed. She had faced 40 lashes or a year in prison.
Is she likely to serve the 15 days, or will the British government manage to secure her release?
Diplomacy is all. Governments cannot be seen to interfere in the courts of their own countries, let alone those of others.
So two Muslim peers have gone to the Sudan.They will have a chat with the President of that country.
The woman herself was removed to some secret place of safety almost immediately after her conviction.
A professor of Islamic studies in Britain has written to The Times to say that it was a humiliating insult to bears to name one after the 'warmongering', hunting,bear-killing, President Roosevelt (He did go on to say that the judges in the Sudan were plainly ignorant of Islamic law and of the life and character of the Prophet and were in need of reeducation).
I doubt if she actually serves 15 days. I see her doing 10 days or so in some sort of house arrest, and then suddenly spirited out of the country before anyone really knows she was discharged. I'm sure that whoever is in charge in the Sudan wishes this had never happened, and wants it just to go away.
Posts: 17233 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Originally posted by Lighteningrodd: Couldn't she be deported???
The sentence was that she serve 15 days and be deported immediately thereafter. Her counsel said that she'd be regarded as having served five days by the time of the trial and sentence, because she'd been in custody pre-trial. It doesn't look as though she is in a jail now: reportedly she has been taken to a secret location 'for her own safety'. So everything points to Sudan getting her out as fast as possible with honour being satisfied on all sides.
A British teacher convicted of insulting religion in Sudan by allowing her students to name a teddy bear "Mohammed" has left Khartoum on a flight home, the British Foreign Office said Monday. - CNN
Posts: 17233 | Location: Lincoln Place, Granite City, IL, USA | Registered: 06-03-02
Originally posted by DorianGreyed: I'm sure that whoever is in charge in the Sudan wishes this had never happened, and wants it just to go away.
Correct, as events have proved
It was all a bit too high profile for Sudan's leadership. Christians in the Sudan are victims of this kind of behaviour, and far worse, all the time, but not all are British schoolteachers
Note that we had a Muslim Lord and a Muslim Baroness readily available to send.Damn Muslims: all of them are covert terrorists, of course, and we have them in our 'Senate'. Where will it all end?
Our Press now wants to know "What has happened to the bear ?".Good question. If we find he has had his right paw judicially amputated for insulting the Prophet, we'll send a gunboat !
(He did go on to say that the judges in the Sudan were plainly ignorant of Islamic law and of the life and character of the Prophet and were in need of reeducation).
