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Gambian Missionaries Imprisoned for Insult

Couple called ruler 'a madman'

By Peter Fearon, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 31, 2008 3:19 AM CST

(Newser) – A British missionary couple has been sentenced to a year's hard labor in one of Africa's toughest prisons for calling the despotic president of Gambia "a madman" in an email, reports the Times of London. The parents of three apologized for the insult, hoping for leniency.

“They have shown no respect for the country, the government and the president of the republic," said the judge, who meted out the maximum sentence. "I will send a clear message to the offenders." Amnesty International has condemned the inhumane conditions at the prison where the couple will serve their sentence.

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Jailed missionaries David Fulton and his wife, Fiona, their adopted baby Elizabeth and David Fulton's children from a former marriage, Iona and Luke. (Westhoughton Pentecostal Church)

Gambia's President Yahya Abdul Jammeh. A pair of British missionaries have been imprisoned for calling him a madman in an email home. (AP Photo/Miraflores Press Office/Francisco Batista)

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They have shown no respect for the country, the government and the president of the republic. I will send a clear message to the offenders. - Magistrate Idrissa Mbai

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Gambian Missionaries Imprisoned for Insult