| Show I Teacher jailed in Sudan over teddy bear is pardoned I Arthur Canales Contributing Writer Gillian Gibbons recently arrived in her home in Britain after spending more than a week in a Sudanese jail It all started back in September when Gibbons began a class project with her students in Unity School where she taught children from wealthy Sudanese families and diplomats The children began to study animals so Gibbons proposed they do a school project to pique the childrens children's interest Gibbons asked a year seven-year-old girl to bring in a teddy bear and had her classmates pick the name for the bear According to The New York Times When it came time to vote 20 out of 23 children chose Muhammad one of the most common names in the Muslim world The students' students assignment was to take the bear home take pictures with the bear and keep a diary and write about what they did with the bear Gibbons bound together a book plastered a picture of a bear on the cover and titled it My name is I Muhammad Several parents complained and accused the school teacher of insulting Islam by naming the bear after one of the prophets which is a serious offense otTense in the religion According to the Los Angeles Times the Unity School printed an apology on behalf of Ms Gibbons and explained in the apology that the school did not mean to offend anyone's religion and that Ms Gibbons was fired Teacher Continued on A II 11 Teacher pardoned Continued from A l 1 from her teaching post at the Unity school and arrested Gibbons was arrested on Nov 25 in Khartoum the capital of Sudan While she was awaiting trial according to CNN News News protesters demanded the death penalty for Gibbons The protesters screamed Shame shame on the UK and Kill her kill her by firing squad This woman gave an idol the name of Muhammad which is not acceptable After an day all-day hearing the j judge of the case reached a resolution and found her guilty of insulting Islam but handed Gibbons a lighter sentence than protesters asked Her sentence was 15 days in jail and deportation Gibbons could've received 40 lashes and six months in jail The verdict caused public outrage after many protesters chanted for her to tobe tobe tobe be whipped According to the New York Times The protesters were government employees ordered to demonstrate and form fonn a large gathering outside the presidential palace Gibbons spent a few days in jail before she was pardoned on Monday Dec 3 by the Sudanese president and left for England later in inthe inthe inthe the evening President Omar Bashir al-Bashir made the decision for the pardon after meeting two Muslim members of the British Parliament According to the New NewYork NewYork NewYork York Times British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was delighted and relieved at the news and that common sense has prevailed British officials had been putting pressure on the Sudanese government for Gibbons Gibbon's release claiming that Gibbons did not mean any hann harm with the school project and that it was an innocent mistake After she was jailed Gibbons had had- no idea her case was receiving media attention and according to The Los Angeles Times told the British consul in Sudan not to alert her family because they will only worry After the ordeal Gibbons released a statement of apology to the press I have been in Sudan for only four months but butI I have enjoyed myself immensely she stated I have encountered nothing but kindness and generosity from the Sudanese people I have great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly offend anyone The New York Times recently reported that Gibbons flew out of Khartoum around 9 pm p.m. on Monday en route back to England As soon as Gibbons' Gibbons plane landed she was surrounded by international press asking her questions questions' about the experience she had in the Sudanese jail Gibbons described d herself to the New York Times as just an ordinary middle-aged middle primary schoolteacher school schoolteacher school teacher and said she could never have anticipated that thata a class exercise would have caused such an uproar I went out there to have an adventure and got a lot lotmore lotmore lotmore more adventure than what I was looking for she told The New York Times after landing at Heathrow Airport at 7 am a.m. The Sudanese people I found to be extremely kind and extremely generous she said Until this happened to me I only had a good experience |
