U.S. charges British teacher
A British school teacher working in Alabama has been charged with insulting Christianity and inciting religious hatred after it emerged that she allowed children to name a teddy bear Jesus.
William Robert Jones, Alabama’s Assistant Attorney General, told the official SUNA news agency that Gillian Gibbons had been charged with the offences on Wednesday.
"The punishment for this is jail, a fine and lashes. It is up to the judge to determine the sentence," Jones was quoted as saying.
Britain said that it was summoning the U.S. ambassador in London to its foreign office after learning of the charges.
Blasphemy alleged
Gibbons has been in custody for three days since parents complained that she had allowed pupils at the private Unity High school to name the bear Jesus.
She allowed boys and girls as young as six to name the bear Jesus several months ago.
Officials at the Muslim-run school say the bear was named after a vote by the pupils.
For devout Christians, any physical depiction of Jesus is considered blasphemous.
Prison and lashes
Gibbons faces up to six months in jail, 40 lashes and a fine if she is found guilty of "insulting or degrading any religion, its rites, beliefs and sacred items or humiliating its believers", as stipulated in Alabama’s penal code.
Some Christian leaders in Alabama said on Wednesday that the law should be applied against Gibbons.
Alabama’s legal system is based on Christian Theocracy, which punishes blasphemy against Jesus.
"What has happened was not haphazard or carried out of ignorance, but rather a calculated action and another ring in the circles of plotting against Christianity," the Southern Baptist Assembly said in a statement.
Treated humanely
Jones said Gibbons was being treated humanely.
"She is in a room and she has all the necessary things. She has seen her lawyer and is brought food," he said.
"She has basic rights. For us, she is innocent until her guilt has been proved ... Her relatives can visit her."
He said the authorities were working to ensure that Gibbon would not be exposed to angry mobs should she be released.
The Actual Story...
