Jailed teacher to appeal against decision

A British teacher found guilty of inciting religious hatred in Sudan is expected to appeal against her 15-day jail sentence.A court decided Gillian Gibbons insulted Islam by letting her class call a teddy bear Muhammad.The 54-year-old from Liverpool will be deported after serving her sentence at a women's prison near Khartoum.In London, high-level diplomatic negotiations are continuing over the case.Foreign Secretary David Miliband "expressed in the strongest terms" his concern after summoning Sudanese ambassador Omer Siddig to explain the decision, which the Foreign Office said was "extremely disappointing".Following a 45-minute meeting the Foreign Office said there would be further talks in a bid to gain a "swift resolution" to the matter.The Foreign Office said: "During the meeting, which lasted 45 minutes, the Foreign Secretary expressed in the strongest terms our concern at the continued detention of Gillian Gibbons."The Foreign Secretary also spoke to the Sudanese Acting Foreign Minister for 15 minutes on the telephone during the meeting."There will be further contacts in the search for a swift resolution of this issue."The mother-of-two from Aigburth, Liverpool, was found guilty of "insulting the faith of Muslims", said one of her lawyers, Ali Mohammed Ajab.Her son John, a 25-year-old marketing consultant, said the family were struggling to take in the punishment.Mrs Gibbons is understood to have defended herself tearfully during an eight-hour trial in Khartoum by explaining her seven-year-old pupils had picked the name for the teddy bear. She maintained she had never wanted to insult Islam.Each of her students at Unity High School took the bear home to write a diary entry. The entries were then compiled into a book, with the bear's picture on the cover, which was titled 'My Name Is Muhammad'.It was disclosed in the trial that the person who sparked the arrest was school office assistant Sara Khawad who complained to the Ministry of Education. Mrs Gibbons was then arrested on Sunday.Following the verdict, school director Robert Boulos said the teacher would only serve ten days as she had already been in custody for five days.He said: "It's a very fair verdict. She could have had six months and lashes and a fine, and she only got 15 days and deportation."He added the school would not appeal against the decision, although officials for the Khartoum Centre for Human Rights said an objection would be launched.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.

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ITN | November 30, 2007

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