'muhammad' Teddy Teacher Arrested

[Myles Domini]

[url="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7112929.stm"]'Muhammad' teddy teacher arrested [/url]
Gillian Gibbons had been working in Khartoum since August
A British school teacher has been arrested in Sudan accused of insulting Islam's Prophet, after she allowed her pupils to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Colleagues of Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, said she made an "innocent mistake" by letting the six and seven-year-olds choose the name.

Ms Gibbons was arrested after several parents made complaints.

A spokesman from the British Embassy in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, said it was unclear whether she had been charged.

Embassy officials are expected to visit Ms Gibbons in custody later.

"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 spokesman said the naming of the teddy happened months ago and was chosen by the children because it is a common name in the country.

"This happened in September and the parents did not have a problem with it," he said.

The BBC's correspondent Amber Henshaw said Ms Gibbons' punishment could be up to six months in jail, 40 lashes or a fine.

The school has been closed until January for fear of reprisals.

'Very sensitive'

Fellow teachers at Khartoum's Unity High School told Reuters news agency they feared for Ms Gibbons' safety after receiving reports that men had started gathering outside the police station where she was being held.

The school's director, Robert Boulos, said: "This is a very sensitive issue. We are very worried about her safety.

They came up with eight names including Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad

Robert Boulos
Director of Unity High School

"This was a completely innocent mistake. Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam."

Mr Boulos said Ms Gibbons was following a British national curriculum course designed to teach young pupils about animals and this year's topic was the bear.

So Ms Gibbons, who joined the school in August, asked a seven-year-old girl to bring in her teddy bear and asked the class to pick names for it, he said.

"They came up with eight names including Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad," Mr Boulos said.

"Then she explained what it meant to vote and asked them to choose the name."

Twenty out of the 23 children chose Muhammad as their favourite name.

Mr Boulos said each child was then allowed to take the bear home at weekends and told to write a diary about what they did with it.

He said the children's entries were collected in a book with a picture of the bear on the cover and a message which read, "My name is Muhammad."

The bear itself was not marked or labelled with the name in any way, he added.

It is seen as an insult to Islam to attempt to make an image of the Prophet Muhammad.

Book seized

Mr Boulos said Ms Gibbons was arrested on Sunday at her home inside the school premises after a number of parents complained to Sudan's Ministry of Education.


Cartoons of the Prophet led to protests around the world in 2006

He said police had seized the book and asked to interview the girl who owned the bear.

The country's state-controlled Sudanese Media Centre reported that charges were being prepared "under article 125 of the criminal law" which covers insults against faith and religion.

No-one at the ministries of education or justice was available for comment.

One Muslim teacher at the school, who also has a child in Ms Gibbons' class, said she had not found the project offensive.

"I had no problem with it at all," the teacher said.

"I know Gillian and she would never have meant it as an insult. I was just impressed that she got them to vote."

Unity is an independent school for Christian and Muslim children and is governed by a board representing major Christian denominations in Sudan.

Cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad printed in several European newspapers sparked violent protests around the world in 2006.

[Quietfire]

I didnt read where the teacher asked the children to name the bear after their favorite prophet.


I wonder if they plan on punishing the children for choosing that name?

[Justin86]

My God, these people are crazy! That poor woman is need of our prayers!

[PopeClementI(MorClemis)]

If she can be arrested for naming a bear Muhammed, why can't every parent who named there kid Mohammed be arrested as well? Especially the trouble-maker kids, since it gives the name a bad rep?

Arrest everyone!

[st-annes]

Blasphemy laws, what century are they living in?

[prose]

Holy cow. That poor woman must be terrified...

[Dreamweaver]

When I first saw this story, I was hoping that it was an article from The Onion. I can't believe the crazies in the world. Certainly there are more important and pressing issues than the name of a teddy bear and how it "promotes idolatry"....

[PopeClementI(MorClemis)]

Actually, the UK and other western nation also have such laws, although they are rarely enforced. Just last week I heard a case in the UK that a protestant group was trying to get some secularists charged with blasphemy..

[quote name='st-annes' post='1425116' date='Nov 26 2007, 12:06 PM']Blasphemy laws, what century are they living in? [/quote]

[Alabaster]

This is crazy! I hope the teacher gets out of this situation ok.

Remember the violent protests after the Muhammad cartoons? These folks are crazy.

Edited November 26, 2007 by Alabaster

[Groo the Wanderer]

[quote name='prose' post='1425131' date='Nov 26 2007, 12:56 PM']Holy cow.[/quote]


That would be India, not Sudan....

[prose]

I wonder if Jack Chick has been threatened since his anti-Muslim tracts.

[jeffpugh]

Is he in the States right now?

[prose]

I am not even sure Jack Chick is a "he" so much as a company.

[Daniel9]

[Ash Wednesday]

Some of those people are so intolerant it makes me ... I don't know why but this sort of thing has REALLY been bothering me today.