Teacher Could Get 40 Lashes For Allowing Her Class to Name a Teddy Bear Mohammad

Here is another case from a Muslim country that could result in the whipping of person, and what was her crime you ask? As a teacher she let her class name a teddy bear Mohammad.

Gillian Gibbons is a Liverpool woman who traveled to Sudan to teach the elites children. Now she is charged with "inciting hatred, insulting religion, and showing contempt of religious beliefs," a crime punishable by up to 40 lashes. So how exactly did she "incite hatred, insult religion, and show contempt of religion"? She allowed her primary school students so these to name a class teddy bear Mohammad. (Primary school is elementary school in an English system...so these where very young kids who named the bear Mohammad). Mohammad is of course the name of Islam's holiest prophet, likenesses of whom are forbidden by the religion.

The bear was part of a project that was meant to teach the students about animals. One girl bought in a bear and each week a new student would take the bear home with a journal that they where to update with the bears activities. The class voted as a whole to name the bear Mohammad. A total of 23 students voted to do this, an huge a majority of the class. Mohammad was also the most popular boys in the class.

Ms. Gibbons has been in prison since last Sunday. Police bought her in for questioning and then arrested her, despite the fact that her colleagues insist was an inadvertent mistake. The school points out that Ms. Gibbons had only been in the country since August. The school director says "This was a completely innocent mistake." "Miss Gibbons would have never wanted to insult Islam." The director also describes what happened when the police came to the school to arrest Ms. Gibbons "We tried to reason with them but we felt they were coming under strong pressure from Islamic courts," he adds. "There were men with big beards asking where she was and saying they wanted to kill her." The fate of the school is now also in question. They have had to close their doors until at least January because they fear reprisals by Islamic extremists.

Ms. Gibbons can be sentenced to six months in prison, a fine, or a public lashing under Sudan's blasphemy laws.

***Update*** Thousands took to the streets of Sudan calling for the EXECUTION of Ms. Gibbons!!!
****Update****Ms. Gibbon was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation back to England.
*****Update***** Ms. Gibbon's was released from prison and sent back to England before her sentence took place. The leader of Sudan had to step in on her behalf.