Crisis, day two: Teddy bear blasphemer fired, grilled for five hours, facing sedition charge

Gordon Brown claims she hasn’t been charged with anything yet but there are rumors of a blasphemy charge and a sedition charge on the way if witnesses “bring new elements to light.” Which, I guess, explains why they’re grilling her for five hours about a teddy bear.

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When the mother-of-two was arrested on Sunday an angry mob, chanting death threats, gathered outside her lodgings at Unity High School as she was led away by police…

She is now facing charges under sharia law for “insulting ideology and religion”…

[I]n an arabic statement sent to More4 News last night, Unity High School announced that Mrs Gibbons’ employment with the school was being terminated with immediate effect.

“The administration of Unity High School would like to proffer an official apology to all students and their families and to all Muslims for what was an individual action, which does not represent the sentiments of the administration or the school,” it read.

I.e. “Please don’t burn down our building.” Follow that last link and note the chorus of sympathizers insisting that it was an innocent mistake and that she meant nothing by it, which of course isn’t the issue at all. It reminds me of the Saudis playing up the gang-rape victim’s alleged adultery even while acknowledging that her sentence was overly harsh. In both cases the basic legitimacy of Islamic law, of lashing someone for adultery or for insulting Mohammed by naming a teddy bear after him, is assumed; the question is simply whether an insult was intended or whether the punishment is a tad too severe.

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I leave you with this golden passage from the annals of cultural sensitivity:

Dr Khalid al Mubarak, a spokesman for the Sudan embassy in London, said that although he had not yet been able to speak to the investigating officer, procedure meant Ms Gibbons would have to be questioned and reports of the situation had been overblown…

Dr Mubarak said: “The way the British think of the teddy bear – as far as Christmas is concerned, and toys are concerned – we don’t have any teddy bears over here, so in Sudan, for us, it is a fierce and dangerous animal.

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