Thousands of protesters, many armed with clubs and knives, marched in Sudan's capital Khartoum on Friday and demanded the death penalty for a British teacher convicted of insulting Islam for using a stuffed bear named "Muhammad" as a teaching aid for her class.
The massive rally came a day after a Sudanese court sentenced Gillian Gibbons, 54, to 15 days in prison, to be followed by a deportation order, according to her defence lawyer.
In an extraordinary move, police in riot gear prevented reporters from entering the courthouse and initially tried to block both her lawyers and British Embassy officials from Thursday's proceedings.
Friday's protest began as worshippers streamed out of mosques after sermons amid the blare of loudspeakers placed on pickup trucks, which rally leaders used to shout messages condemning Gibbons, the Associated Press reported.
This all started when Gibbons was teaching her pupils, who are about age seven, about animals. She asked one of them to bring in her teddy bear.
According to Robert Boulos, director of the Unity High School, Gibbons asked the students to pick names for it and they proposed Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad, and in September, the pupils voted to name it Muhammad — a common name among Muslim males, but an apparent insult when applied to a toy animal, since it is the name of the Prophet and founder of Islam.
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The massive rally came a day after a Sudanese court sentenced Gillian Gibbons, 54, to 15 days in prison, to be followed by a deportation order, according to her defence lawyer.
In an extraordinary move, police in riot gear prevented reporters from entering the courthouse and initially tried to block both her lawyers and British Embassy officials from Thursday's proceedings.
Friday's protest began as worshippers streamed out of mosques after sermons amid the blare of loudspeakers placed on pickup trucks, which rally leaders used to shout messages condemning Gibbons, the Associated Press reported.
This all started when Gibbons was teaching her pupils, who are about age seven, about animals. She asked one of them to bring in her teddy bear.
According to Robert Boulos, director of the Unity High School, Gibbons asked the students to pick names for it and they proposed Abdullah, Hassan and Muhammad, and in September, the pupils voted to name it Muhammad — a common name among Muslim males, but an apparent insult when applied to a toy animal, since it is the name of the Prophet and founder of Islam.
Full story
More...