Thousands of knife-wielding protesters took to the streets of Khartoum today to demand the execution of the British primary school teacher who let children in her class name a teddy bear Muhammad.AP reported about 10,000 attended the protest outside the presidential palace in Khartoum's Martyr's Square, demanding the Liverpudlian be killed by firing squad. The rally was held after Friday prayers.
Pick-up trucks carrying Sudanese demonstrators drove around the capital blaring out messages to Gillian Gibbons.
Protesters shouted: "No tolerance: execution" and "Kill her, kill her by firing squad".
Hundreds of riot police were deployed to the protests in Martyr's Square, but they did not try to stop the rally.
Last night Gibbons was found guilty of "insulting religion" and sentenced to 15 days in prison by a Sudanese judge after an eight-hour hearing. Gibbons is now in Omdurman women's prison, some way from today's demonstrations. She will face deportation at the end of her sentence.
The schoolteacher, from Liverpool, was cleared of the more serious charge of inciting hatred, for which she would have faced the maximum penalty of six months in prison and 40 lashes.
Ali Ageb, a member of Gibbons' defence team, said he was "very unhappy" with the verdict and would appeal. "She did this as part of her profession as the teacher," he told reporters outside the court. "She did not intend to insult anybody."
Ageb said Gibbons, who was arrested on Sunday, had been calm when the verdict was announced. "I think she was expecting it," he said.
The diplomatic moves to secure Gibbon's freedom are ongoing. Gordon Brown spoke with a member of Gibbon's family to convey his regret that the teacher was now in prison.
"He set out his concern and the fact that we were doing all we could to secure her release," his spokeswoman told reporters.
The Foreign Office said it was "extremely disappointed" by the sentence, and David Miliband, the foreign secretary, again summoned the Sudanese ambassador to explain the verdict. During the 45-minute meeting, Miliband expressed concern at the continued detention of Gibbons "in the strongest terms".
Louise Ellman, MP for Liverpool Riverside, said the teacher's family was very upset. "I do realise that the sentence could have been harder, but 15 days in a jail in Sudan could be very, very harsh," she told Sky News.
"There is still an appeals process ... the decision is one for the Sudanese authorities. I hope we can see some common sense here. I think there's distress and there's anger and I can't see much positive that has come from this."
It had emerged earlier in the day that complaints about naming the teddy bear Muhammad had come from a fellow member of staff at the exclusive Unity high school where Gibbons worked.
Teachers and clergy from the school's board turned up at court to support Gibbons. Robert Boulos, the school's director, said education ministry officials had originally told him that parents had complained about the naming of the bear. But, he said: "Today I heard that it was a member of the school staff. I was horrified."
The complainant was named as Sara Khawad, an office assistant at the school, who was the key prosecution witness.
The charges relate to a project initiated in September, when Gibbons, who had been in Sudan for a month, asked pupils to suggest names for a bear. Each child would take the bear home and write in a diary about their experience.
The chosen name was Muhammad, one of the most common names in Sudan, and the name of Islam's prophet. The diary featured a picture of a bear on the front and the label: "My name is Muhammad".
Since Gibbons' arrest, there have been fears for her safety, and that of her colleagues at Unity, which is now closed.
Riot police wearing helmets and shields and clutching batons and rifles were posted outside the court yesterday. But though leaflets condemning Gibbons had been distributed in Khartoum on Wednesday, there was no sign of protesters.
After the verdict, announced by the judge Mohammed Youssef at 9pm, Boulos attempted to quell lingering anger on the streets. "We are happy with the verdict," he said. "It is fair. There were a lot of political pressures and attention. We will be very sad to lose her."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,331419850-113559,00.html
JPTF 2007/11/30
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