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A British teacher charged with "inciting religious hatred" for allowing a class of 7-year-olds to name a teddy bear Muhammad has been sentenced to 15 days in a Sudanese jail.
Gillian Gibbons, 54, was convicted by an Islamic court but, to the relief of her family and her
employer, she escaped being given 40 lashes.
She faces deportation when she is released from jail.
Although the verdict appeared harsh given the nature of the crime, it was described as "very fair" by Robert Boulos, the headmaster of Gibbons' school, who noted that she had already spent five days in prison and would be free in 10 days.
The teacher, from Liverpool, had faced up to 40 lashes, a fine and six months in prison.
Gibbons, flanked by prison guards, looked tired and pale as she arrived at a courthouse in the capital, Khartoum, after four days in custody.
The Foreign Office said it was "extremely disappointed" with the outcome and summoned Sudan's Ambassador to Britain, who had met the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, earlier in the day, to explain the verdict.
Ministers had clearly hoped for a lesser punishment after taking a softly-softly approach. Even the Sudanese Embassy in London had suggested a conviction was "unlikely".
The verdict maintains the integrity of the Sudanese legal system while enabling Gibbons to escape the most severe penalty.
But what was billed as a brief administrative hearing in Khartoum turned into a full trial amid chaotic scenes.
Amid signs of a populist backlash against the teacher in Sudan, the court was closed to the dozens of journalists and British diplomats who arrived to watch proceedings.
A lawyer representing Gibbons, Kamal Djizouri, had to grapple with police before he was allowed to enter the chamber.
As the case was heard, a convicted prisoner was being whipped outside the court in punishment for an unspecified offence.
Gibbons, who taught at Unity High School - a private college popular with affluent Sudanese Muslim families - was arrested after police received a complaint from the school secretary that the teacher insulted the Prophet Muhammad by allowing her students to give a teddy bear the same name.
Back in September, the pupils were allowed to vote on a name for the stuffed toy and rejected Gibbons' suggestion of "Faris", meaning horseman, in favour of "Muhammad" - the name of one of the most popular boys in her class.
Each weekend, one pupil was allowed to take the bear home and detail its "activities" a diary which bore a picture of the teddy on the cover next to the words "My Name is Muhammad".
The secretary, Sara Khawad, was one of three prosecution witnesses to give evidence against Gibbons, disproving claims that the original complaint was by a parent.
Among those who came forward in the teacher's defence was the boy after whom the bear was named.
Khalid al Mubarak, a spokesman for the Sudanese Embassy in London, said his Government was powerless to intervene in the country's sharia judicial system.
"I think it is unfortunate that this minor incident has reached court. I hope people will understand the naivety of the teacher herself, who alerted people to this in a letter she wrote and typed herself. But we are hopeful of a positive outcome."
Mubarak denied suggestions that the case was being used by the regime to exert political pressure on Britain over the continuing crisis in Sudan's western Darfur region. The Foreign Office also sought to confine the case to a purely consular basis.
The Assembly of Ulemas, a group which represents Muslim clerics, said Gibbons' actions were "another ring in the circles of plotting against Islam" and compared them to the "blasphemies" of Salman Rushdie.
After the trial, the lawyer Djizouri said the verdict was "not bad", adding that his defence had tried to show Gibbons never meant to cause offence.
"There is a very big difference between the holy character of Prophet Muhammad and the name Muhammad given to a person."
BREAKING IT DOWN
What did she do?
Gillian Gibbons, 54, allowed a class of 7-year-olds to name a teddy bear Muhammad.
Why was that wrong?
The Sudanese Education Ministry said she had insulted the Prophet Muhammad.
What is her punishment?
15 days in a Sudanese jail.
What was she facing?
40 lashes, a fine and a six-month prison term.
- Independent
