Sudan Arrests Primary School Teacher Over Name of Teddy Bear

Reuters today reports that in Khartoum, Sudan, a British elementary-school teacher has been arrested for permitting her class of 7-year olds to name a teddy bear Mohammad. Teacher Gillian Gibbons was combining a unit on animals and their habitats with an attempt to teach students about voting. Students came up with eight possible names for the bear, and then voted on their favorite. Twenty of the 23 students voted for "Mohammad". After a number of parents complained to Sudan's Ministry of Education, Gibbons was arrested on charges of insulting the Prophet Mohammad. The Sudanese Media Centre said charges of insulting religion were being prepared "under article 125 of the criminal law". (However under Sudan's 2003 Penal Code , it would appear that Sections 242 and 242(A) are the sections involved.) Other teachers at the over-100 year old independent Unity High School that is run by members of various Christian denominations -- but which also enrolls Muslim students -- said that Gibbons merely made an innocent mistake. Meanwhile school director Robert Boulos has closed the school until January for fear of reprisals.