Briton Convicted in Sudan Teddy Bear Case
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
KHARTOUM — A British teacher in Sudan was convicted today of insulting Islam for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Muhammad, and she was sentenced to 15 days in prison and deportation from the country, one of her lawyers said.
Gillian Gibbons was arrested Sunday after complaints to the Education Ministry that she had insulted Prophet Muhammad, the most revered figure in Islam, by applying his name to a toy animal.
The maximum penalty in the case, which has attracted worldwide attention, was 40 lashes and six months in prison.
“The judge found Gillian Gibbons guilty and sentenced her to 15 days jail and deportation,” a member of her defense team, Ali Mohammed Hajab, said.
