KHARTOUM, Sudan (CNN) -- A British teacher in Sudan jailed over the
naming of a teddy bear has been released from police custody, the
British Embassy in Khartoum said, several hours after Sudan's
president Omar al-Bashir pardoned her.
Gillian Gibbons, freed after Sudan's president Omar al-Bashir granted
her a presidential pardon earlier Monday, apologized for any distress
her actions may have caused.
"I have great respect for the Islamic religion and would not knowingly
offend anyone and I am sorry if I caused any distress," Gibbons said,
in a statement read out by Sayeeda Warsi, one of two Muslim lawmakers
who traveled out to Sudan to secure her release.
Gibbons, 54, was sentenced to 15 days in jail last Thursday for having
allowed her students at a private school to name a teddy bear
"Mohammed."
Without a pardon, she would have remained in jail another six days.
She is expected to leave Sudan on flight to England soon after the
courts ruled she should be deported after completing her sentence, the
spokesman said.
Gibbons also praised the "kindness and generosity" of the Sudanese and
said she would be sad to leave her job at the Unity High School and
said she would miss her students "terribly".
The pardon came following efforts by Nazir Ahmed and Sayeeda Warsi,
Muslim members of the House of Lords, to persuade the Sudanese
government that releasing Gibbons would create international goodwill
toward their country. Watch Time magazine's Sam Dealey's report on the
pardon. »
Ahmed, who is a member of the House of Lords --the UK's upper
parliamentary chamber, told CNN that Sudan's president was impressed
that Gibbons intended no harm.
"This was an unfortunate, unintentional, innocent misunderstanding," Ahmed said.
He added: "I am very confident that the whole matter will be resolved
within hours rather than days."
"Common sense has prevailed," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
said. He added that Gibbons will be taken to the British embassy in
Khartoum after "what must have been a difficult ordeal".
British Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, said he welcomed President
al-Bashir's intervention.
"Gillian's welfare has been our priority at every stage. Gillian will
now be released into the care of British Embassy officials in
Khartoum. We will be discussing with Gillian her preferences for her
return to the UK," he said.
Gibbon's son John told reporters he was sure his mom would be "very
pleased", but said the family were holding in their excitement until
she returned to Britain.
"It's been a good news morning, but the family won't be 100 per cent
thrilled until she's on the plane.
"It's been a strange old week, very strange for the family, and we're
pleased it's coming to an end," he said.
He also expressed his family's gratitude towards the British
government for helping to secure Gibbon's release, adding they were
"thankful" for the Sudanese president's decision.
The efforts of Ahmed and Warsi had been complicated by pressure from
hard-liners for Gibbons to serve out the last week of a 15-day
sentence.
Some protesters called for her execution.
She has apologized to a faculty member offended by the toy's name,
Time magazine's Sam Dealey told CNN.
The members of Parliament met privately with Gibbons on Saturday, who
told them she was being treated well, they said. Warsi told Dealey she
was doing "remarkably."
Gibbons was cleared of charges of inciting hatred and showing contempt
for religious beliefs, her lawyer, Ali Ajeb, said.
On Friday, hundreds of protesters, some waving ceremonial swords from
trucks equipped with loudspeakers, gathered outside the presidential
palace to denounce Gibbons.
No comments:
Post a Comment