Comment: Teacher's plight unites faiths

Nov 30 2007 Liverpool Daily Post

THE last few days will have been a roller-coaster ride for Liverpool school teacher Gillian Gibbons, and for all her friends, family, and her many well-wishers.

She has gone from the possibility of being given 40 lashes, to being given imminent release, and then back to severe punishment. Now, however, the Sudanese authorities have finally passed judgment – 15 days in jail, followed by immediate deportation back to the UK.

While acknowledging it could have been so much worse, the verdict is still – as both the Bishop of Liverpool and Mrs Gibbons’s MP, Louise Ellman, have said – a deep disappointment, mainly because the Sudanese court have refused to accept the obvious defence that this was an innocent mistake.

Instead, they have found her guilty of insulting religion and inciting hatred. This has, quite rightly, met with universal condemnation.

For example, Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, branded the decision a "gross over-reaction from Sudanese authorities". But, of course, this is no longer just about Mrs Gibbons. Her case has instead become a trial of strength between moderates and hardliners in the Sudanese government.

It is at least good to see that the British government is taking the matter seri- ously, with the Foreign Secretary David Miliband summoning the Sudanese ambassador to explain the jail sentence.

But it is also heartening to see the inter-faith response to Mrs Gibbons’s predicament, with both Christian and Muslim leaders in Liverpool issuing a joint appeal for her release.

While acknowledging that the sentence could have been a lot worse, having to spend 15 days in a Sudanese prison will be a frightening and upsetting exper- ience for Mrs Gibbons, made more so by the fact that – in the eyes of much the world – she has done absolutely nothing to merit such a sentence.

It is at least reassuring to know that pressure will continue be brought to bear from all quarters for her swift and unconditional release.