Sudan Ecumenical Forum questions Sharia law following teddy row

The Sudan Ecumenical Forum has been questioning the Sudanese judicial system following the teddy bear row which saw the imprisonment and subsequent release of British teacher Gillian Gibbons in Sudan.

Gibbons was arrested and convicted of insulting Islam after she allowed her students to name a teddy bear Muhammad. She was sentenced to 15 days in prison.

After four days she was pardoned by Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir following the intervention of two Muslim members of the House of Lords, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi and Lord Nazir Ahmed.

Gibbons has said that she had no intention of insulting Islam and apologised for any distress she caused. Despite that, her release was still met by protests in Sudan calling for her to be killed.

Gerrit Noltensmeier, a retired German Protestant leader who heads the forum, has said that the Islamic Sharia law should not have been upgraded to the state penal code applicable to all inhabitants of the North of the country, reports ASSIST News Service (ANS).

Noltensmeier said that the fact that non-Muslim minorities in northern Sudan are subject to Sharia law is scandalous.

According to ANS, Noltensmeier said that religious sensitivity is highly necessary in the Muslim World.

The Sudan Ecumenical Forum, a platform for churches and Christian relief organisations in Sudan, will be discussing the teddy bear fiasco at its next meeting this month.