And they wonder why Islam has such an image problem...

uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKMCD84133020071128

At the risk of inviting a fatwa against myself, I feel compelled to post on this subject.

These people really have to get over themselves. I mean, what century are they living in? Oh, that's right, I forgot... They're about 500 years behind the rest of us.

From what I've seen and read, this has to be one of the most ridiculous cases of over-reaction in recent years. Maybe they should lock up the babies as well - after all, it was the kids who named the damn bear Muhhamed.

To compare this woman's plight with the Danish cartoon thingy is a mistake. The teacher was educating babies, whereas the Danes made a calculated & misguided decision to poke fun at Islam. But let's face it, the more we hear about cases such as these, the more ridicule they invite upon themselves.

Our Government must make this poor lady's unconditional release an absolute priority.

Surely, sanity must pervail

I have strong feelings on this Pete - I simply don't believe it.

The whole story reeks to me of the media inflating a story beyond all sense.

We shall see. If she gets charged I'm wrong. But I suspect it will all fizzle away and I don't think it was ever there.

In which case it would be another prime example of "it's a good story" potentially causing big problems and repercussions.

Let's await the outcome.

Well JK, Reuters are reporting that she's been charged - and the Sudanese ambassador has been rightly summoned to the Foreign Office.

The Foreign Office has confirmed that she has been charged on three counts:

Insulting Islam
Inciting hatred
Showing contempt for religious beliefs

She's apparently due in court tomorrow (I wonder if Skippy will be preciding), so I'm not convinced that this is a non-story.

As you say, let's see what happens over the next few days...

You're right Pete - she has been charged but I still cannot believe this story... let us see how it unfurls.

By the way, this thread would be far more appropriate in Your Views but I can't work out how to switch it!

lol... I realised as soon as I'd posted that it should have been in Your Views.

I thought about sending you a quick note asking to switch it over, but I actually thought to myself 'Nah, he won't know how to do that!'

lol...

I'm with you Pete. My instincts tell me that this is a story which has been accurately described by the media.

It may still fizzle out but only if the Sudanese buckle under diplomatic pressure.

I pride myself on my tolerance, but feel justified in making an exception for Islam, or maybe I should specify this type of Islam.

Why display tolerance to something so inherently intolerant? Such barbaric atrocities have been carried out by Sharia law.

From today's Independent:

An influential and semi-official association of clerics, scholars, and preachers known as the Sudanese Assembly of Ulemas, who are thought to have the ear of the Sudanese government, suggested the incident was part of a broader Western "plot" against Islam that is exemplified "in the writings of renegade Salman Rushdie and the blasphemous caricatures of the Prophet Mohamed."

"What has happened was not haphazard or carried out of ignorance, but rather a calculated action and another ring in the circles plotting against Islam," the Ulemas added. "It is part of the campaign of the so-called war against terrorism and the intense media campaign against Islam".

Today will see... if the judge throws the whole thing out, I believe I was right and it was inflated by the media for a good story.

If not, you're all correct and there is a deeper problem (and I should be less cynical).

The fact is you're already wrong JK.

The woman has been locked up for 3 days and I think the media is only now really picking up on the story.

And, if the media had not picked this up - what do you think her chances of fair treatment would be..?

Not everything that is printed is a lie...

You should bear that in mind.

Well it seems she has been found guilty of one of the three charges and will be kept inside for 2 weeks and then deported.

Hmm... I'll have to think about this.

OK Pete and others; this is what I reckon...

Someone bent on making trouble inflated the reality into a possible charge.

The media inflated it further because "it was a good story".

Militant loonies leaped with delight on it and fanned the flames.

There was probably more to it in the first place than has been discovered or revealed.

From a storm in a teacup it was built into a mini drama and will have repercussions but I have to say - two weeks inside for making a cultural mistake may not be fair but it's not life or death either.

JK, I'm amazed that you, of all people, can imply that two weeks inside is no big deal.

I am sorry, but I totally disagree. Perhaps if she had actually committed a crime, you'd be right. But she has committed no crime. Well, none that anyone with any sense could see...

And I also think it's a bit rich, coming from you, in the context of your almost constant ranting about perceived miscarriages of justice etc.

I'm not sure why you're so reluctant to accept that this is a big deal. Try telling that to her family and loved ones.

If my Mum was to be locked up in a Sudanese prison for 15 minutes, let alone 15 days, for no reason other than this I'd be incandescant.

Fair enough Pete and it does seem absurd.
My point is that I suspect the media inflated and maybe even caused it.
Apart from that, whilst it is bizarre that other countries and moralities are different from ours, my main gripe is with Great Britain - this is where we live and our morality and law should be understood, obeyed and sensible.
The loopholes exploited in our law cause terrible miscarriages of justice.
Other countries have different standards and there is a terrible tendency for the UK media and public to become nationalistic.

"Filthy foreigners lock up sweet British drug smuggler" is a regular tabloid story.

If someone from a country where the age of consent was 13 (many places) had sex with a 13 year old in the UK, we would be up in arms and 15 days would be considered a very short sentence.

The law is the law however absurd. If that's what the law is in the Sudan for offending religious beliefs (however strange), it seems a fairly short sentence.

hi there, sorry to jump in and out, but i dont think you can compare a physical act of abuse on a 13yr old to a crime that is purely down to beliefs and scripture and not actually tangible to comprehend.

It is like the Pope having everyone who has sex with protection in Rome or Italy locked up, as its against the beliefs of the Vatican.

THis is a similar comparison and just simple wouldnt happen.

interesting discussion this

(poking my nose back round the corner to prove I'm still alive)

JK is spot on. If that is the law in the country then she has got an amazingly lenient sentence. She dares to bare her eyebrows for all men to lust after and flaunt around with equal rights having abandoned her husband so in "their" eyes she really is quote a dreadful person and bearing that in mind, she got can count her blessings.
"Aid Sudan" might be getting a few less charitable donations this Christmas

Now here we go again - the Mail has a hugely inflamatory front page - Kill Her! Kill Her!

Why? Am I being cynical to think it's because it's a good story?

One rather intelligent commentator said it looked to him rather staged (the "march") and only included a thousand or so well primed members of the "mob" and that actually 99% of Khartoum had no interest in it whatsoever.

I just get this feeling that something stinks - but then I have become very cynical.

Surprise, surprise, pardoned... released...

I still think there is something very odd indeed about all this.

I simply cannot take it at face value.

You must be right JK.

It never happened. She was never locked up. She's actually been staying at the Khartoum Sheraton. It was all a consipracy, designed purely to sell more newspapers.

Well you may be being sarcastic Pete but I have a strong suspicion she wasn't actually in jail (removed "for her own safety"?) - I still think there was a great deal more - or less - about this than met the eye.

Why?

I don't know but one thing I am sure about.

It was a very good story.

She has said how well she was treated and how everything was fine. I can't imagine for one second that life in a Sudanese women's prison is anything but repulsive. It is bad enough in a British prison when you're innocent....