June 16, 2012
To become an "Ex" of any religion needs intelligence and education. To become an Ex-Muslim needs courage as well. Maryam Namazie has the additional ability to inspire others to follow her admirable example. Many congratulations on the fifth anniversary of the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. Richard Dawkins FRS, University of Oxford, UK The Council of Ex-Muslims performs a vitally important service to the cause of liberty of conscience and all the human rights involved with it. I applaud its courage, humanity, determination and persistence. A C Grayling, philosopher, UK
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June 16, 2012
30 year old atheist Alexander Aan has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison and fined for having written “God does not exist” on Facebook. He was found guilty of “deliberately spreading information inciting religious hatred and animosity” and “caused anxiety to the community and tarnished Islam”.
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June 13, 2012
Ismail ‘Hilath’ Rasheed, a Maldivian blogger, journalist and free speech advocate, has been brutally attacked near his home on 4 June 2012. His throat was slit through the trachea and he survived only because a vital artery was missed by millimetres. He remains in critical condition. Whilst police are still investigating, it is believed to be the work of Islamists.
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April 10, 2012
ALEX AAN 30 year old atheist Alex Aan, the civil servant who had been beaten and arrested in Indonesia because his postings on Facebook 'insulted Islam' is stull in prison. In an update on his case, it's reported that he has been indicted on three counts. HAMZA KASHGARI In other news, there have been some reports that 23 year old Hamza Kashgari who faces execution in Saudi Arabia for his Tweets about Mohammad is now out of danger and is to be released imminently or that he is only being held 'for his own safety'. But these reports are not true.
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March 2, 2012
Countless individuals face threats, imprisonment, and execution because of their criticism of religion and religious authorities. Blasphemy and Apostasy laws as well as uncodified rules imposed by both state and non-state actors aim primarily to restrict thought and expression and limit the rights of Muslims, ex-Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Such rules exist in a number of countries including Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Jordan, Morocco, Turkey, Yemen, Iraq and elsewhere. On 14 March 2012, we, the undersigned, are calling for simultaneous events and actions in defence of the critics of religion in order to highlight medieval laws and exert pressure to save the lives of the women and men facing execution, imprisonment or threats.
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February 14, 2012

In your Introduction to Human Rights Watch’s World Report 2012, “Time to Abandon the Autocrats and Embrace Rights,” you urge support for the newly elected governments that have brought the Muslim Brotherhood to power in Tunisia and Egypt. In your desire to “constructively engage” with the new governments, you ask states to stop supporting autocrats. But you are not a state; you are the head of an international human rights organization whose role is to report on human rights violations, an honorable and necessary task which your essay largely neglects.


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February 13, 2012
On 12 February, Malaysian police deported 23 year old Saudi columnist Hamza Kashgari, who fled Saudi Arabia after making comments on Twitter claimed by some to be "insulting" to the prophet Muhammad. There have been widespread calls from Islamists for his execution; in Saudi Arabia, blasphemy is punishable by death. Theocratic regimes like Saudi Arabia will not tolerate the most basic freedom of thought and expression. We defend the right of everyone in the world to freely express their views, including to criticise religion. We condemn the Malaysian government for detaining Kashgari who had fled the country and handing him over to the Saudi authorities. We are also concerned to learn of reports that INTERPOL may have promulgated a Saudi government warrant for his arrest. The implications of this mean that no asylum seeker or refugee is free from persecution even after having fled. We demand that the Saudi authorities immediately and unconditionally release Kashgari. He has not committed any crime.
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February 13, 2012
One Law for All held a successful rally in defence of free expression on Saturday 11 February 2012 opposite the Houses of Parliament. Hundreds braved the cold weather to join the rally at Old Palace Yard. The rally followed several incidents in London recently where freedom of expression was curtailed in favour of fear of causing offence. In one incident, a talk on sharia law by One Law for All’s Anne Marie Waters was cancelled following threats of violence. Rhys Morgan was told by his school to remove a picture of Jesus and Mo from his Facebook page – a...
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January 22, 2012
The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain just got the following email: We are a group of international people, Indonesian as well as other nationalities, including ex-indonesian journalists as well as legal assistants, supporting Alex Aan in regard to his recent arrest and charges under Indonesian law for blasphemy due to his posts on the wall of his Facebook group of which he is one of the admin. Alex Aan exercised his right to free speech in a democratic country, Indonesia, by openly questioning the existence of god and criticizing Islam. We are please asking for your help in spreading the...
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November 21, 2011
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain fully supports Khalid Saeed’s application for asylum in Sweden. We are astonished to hear he has been refused asylum and urge the Swedish authorities to reconsider and grant him protection. Mr Saeed is a member of our organisation. We are an organisation made up of people who have publicly renounced Islam in order to break the taboo that comes with doing so. Although, we in the west are free to make such decisions, notwithstanding the threats and intimidation, in other countries, specifically in this case Pakistan. Given the high exposure of our organisation as well...
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