Khartoum, Sudan — A British teacher appeared before a heavily guarded Sudanese court on Thursday charged with insulting Islam and inciting religious hatred by allowing pupils to name a teddy bear Mohammed.
Gillian Gibbons, 54, went into a closed hearing at Khartoum's criminal court wearing loose fitting dark clothes and looking well despite facing possible conviction that could see her jailed, flogged in public and fined.
Riot police deployed around the complex as the mother of two, her lawyer and the prosecution assembled in the second-floor courtroom for a case that has sparked a diplomatic row with Britain, the former colonial rulers in Sudan.
Police briefly detained four local photographers and cameramen, then ordered them to leave, banning journalists from the hearing and from taking pictures of Gibbons, who was driven into the complex in a prison van, witnesses said.
In a brewing diplomatic row, Britain's Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Gibbons had made an "innocent mistake" and called for "common sense" to prevail as the Sudanese ambassador to London was summoned to the Foreign Office.
Officials said Gibbons could face an immediate trial or the court will set a date for later proceedings.
General Abideen Tahar, who heads Khartoum's criminal investigation unit, said Gibbons was well treated, had spent two hours with her lawyer on Wednesday and that the judgement would be fair.
"We expect the judgement to be fair, the defendent was treated well because she is a woman and a teacher," he told reporters.
"Police have full control of the security around the court and are ready to contain any security breach," Tahar added.
The sentence for breaching Article 125 of the penal code -- publicly insulting or degrading any religion, its rites, beliefs and sacred items or humiliating its believers -- is up to six months in jail, 40 lashes and a fine.
Sudanese officials say a judge will determine the severity of the sentence.
Gibbons was arrested on Sunday after parents at the private English school where she had taught for less than a term, complained that in allowing primary school children to name a cuddly toy Mohammed, she had insulted Muslims.
The teacher has told British consular officials that she has been well treated and that she never meant to cause offence in the incident in September.
"The Sudanese legal system has to take its course but common sense has to prevail," Miliband told reporters before meeting Sudan's ambassador to London.
Miliband said that, despite tensions between Khartoum and the West over the Darfur crisis, Gibbons should not be seen as part of a "political dispute."
The United States, Britain's closest ally and a country that imposes economic sanctions on the Sudanese government, also voiced concern.
Although the affair has aroused rather scant attention in the Sudanese press, the independent English-language newspaper The Citizen published a stinging editorial declaring that Gibbons deserved better justice.
Islamic Sharia law applies in Khartoum, where alcohol is banned and women are expected to dress conservatively.
The education ministry, to which parents at the Christian-run Unity High School complained, was staffed with "Islamic fundamentalists" and "another fanatic" was likely to hear her case in court, the newspaper wrote.
"Gibbons's crime reflects what non-Muslims living in northern Sudan go through everyday. Women caught brewing local beverages... meant for traditional occasions are detained, flogged, fined and imprisoned."
The Committee of Ulemas in Sudan denounced Gibbons' behaviour and demanded a full investigation into who was responsible and that the education ministry do more to protect Muslim pupils.