British teacher Gillian Gibbons has appeared before a Sudanese court charged with insulting religion and inciting hatred by naming a teddy bear Mohammed.
Sky News sources say British consular staff have been denied access to the hearing.
Riot police have surrounded the court building in Khartoum, and the media have also been barred from entering.
Reports said Gibbons, who faces 40 lashes for allowing her class to give the cuddly toy the name, looked tired when she entered the courtroom.
They added that she was wearing a dark blue jacket and blue dress, but was not handcuffed.
Sudan's prosecutor general said she could expect a swift and fair trial under Sudanese law.
The defence has called several eyewitnesses including colleagues from Unity High School in Khartoum and a teaching assistant who was inside the classroom with Gibbons during the naming of the teddy bear.
She has been charged under Article 125 of the criminal code and, if convicted, could also be sentenced to six months in prison or fined.
The move prompted the British Government to summon the Sudanese ambassador in London as a "matter of urgency".
Britain's Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, said the prosecution sprang from an "innocent misunderstanding" and he wanted to see Gibbons freed as soon as possible.
Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said: "We must ask why she has been charged.
"They know that this is not a particularly serious affair, so why have they chosen to do this?
"The Justice Minister of Sudan has taken a personal interest in this affair and he has told the general prosecutor to take a personal interest in it."
He added: "I think any kind of right-thinking Muslim thinks this is silly. Someone in Sudan wants to make an issue of this."
Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said he was "appalled" at the decision to charge her.
He said: "This is a disgraceful decision and defies common sense.
"There was clearly no intention on the part of the teacher to deliberately insult the Islamic faith."
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1294891,00.html
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