THE TOLERANCE OF THE ROP!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 at 04:02PM I see that the tolerance of Islam is manifest once again in the news that a British couple working as Christian missionaries in Gambia have been jailed for one year with hard labour for sending emails that were critical of the Muslim state.
David Fulton, 60, a former Army major, and his wife, Fiona, 46, pleaded guilty to making seditious comments "with intent to bring hatred or contempt against the president or the government".
Their sentence, in a country which has one of west Africa's worst human rights records, sparked concern after reports that other prisoners on similar charges have been poisoned while in jail.
The couple, originally from Torquay in Devon, have spent 12 years in Gambia. They were arrested on 29 November at their home at Kerr Sering, an hour's drive from the capital through tropical bush, and accused of spreading "hatred against the government" via a series of round-robin emails believed to relate to their missionary work.
Friends said that they were not given details of what exactly they were accused of until appearing in court.
They were sentenced in the capital, Banjul, and will be held at one of Africa's toughest jails, the former colonial penal institute of Mile Two Prison. They were also fined 250,000 Dalasis (£6,500).
According to Pastor Martin Speed, of Westhoughton Pentecostal Church in Bolton, who has been campaigning for the Fultons' release, the couple were advised to admit the sedition charge in the hope that the judge might show leniency.
The Fultons met two decades ago in England. He had found God while serving a sentence for armed robbery and she was a prison visitor. They have two children, Iona, 20, and Luke, 17, who are studying in Exeter, Devon. Mr Fulton was a chaplain in the Gambian army and at the national airport and had begun ministering to spiritual needs at the immigration posts that dot the long frontiers with Senegal, to the north, south and east. Meanwhile, Mrs Fulton spent her time training prison chaplains, looking after terminally ill people and visiting female hospital patients. Peter McMinn, Mrs Fulton's father, said that before the couple's arrests, his son-in-law had been attacked three times in the street by locals who did not like the couple's Christian beliefs. He said: "They threw stones at him and attacked him with bits of wood. He was very shaken."
I hope that NO aid goes to the Gambia from this country.
Islam 
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Reader Comments (7)
If I was still single I might wonder if it was easier to meet women by serving sentence in a prison for armed robbery like Mr. Fulton (and marrying a prison visitor 14 years his junior the rascal). Of course once was lost and now am found and all that good stuff - bygones etc.
As for his more recent incarceration, it seems rather unfair on paper, and rather harsh. Usually folks get deported for this kind of thing among the less tolerant localities (God can imagine what happens to a Gambian citizen accused of the same crime). I suppose a missionary must be prepared to encounter all sorts of tribulations.
How dare they send e-mails critical of that ratbag republic. The imperialist swine.
One has to ask onself what in god's name were they doing in that ratbag republic in the first place. I know, I know but ........
Actually Gambia is a not insignificant tourist destination believe it or not.
It was a big port for the export of slaves in the bad days, and there is a certain amount of "cultural tourism" incl from American blacks seeking to trace roots etc.
Its pretty far down on my list though
Back when we were a civilised nation a gunboat would be weighing anchor about now, just to remind the locals what's what.
I think now we might have a spare tug near Southend.
And yes, David, you can bet there's no question of the millions we no doubt tip this fly-blown khazi of being stopped. The WaBenzi lifestyle must be maintained at all costs.
The linked story refers to the fact that Gambia has a secular constitution, even though 90% of the population follow of the backward medieval superstition known as Islam.
But it seems a bit unfair to call it a "muslim state" if it has a secular constitution.
It would depend, Peter, if their Constitution is worth the paper it's written upon.