Press Releases

December 9, 2025		Global Mattress Action Press Release For Immediate Release – Dec 9, 2025 On Human Rights Day, December 10, activists across multiple countries will take part in the Global Mattress Action, a coordinated series of peaceful demonstrations calling for the immediate release of Moroccan feminist and human rights defender Ibtissame Betty Lachgar. Actions will take place in cities including Milan, Paris, London, Berlin, New York, Melbourne, and others. Participants will lay down mattresses or symbolic bedding materials in public spaces to represent the inhumane conditions in which Lachgar is being held. According to her lawyers and family, she has been kept in isolation without... Filed as: Featured, Homepage, Press Releases
December 9, 2025		A Call to Morocco: End Betty’s Unjust Imprisonment 10 December 2025 H.E. Mr Hakim Hajoui Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco to the United Kingdom Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco 6 Grosvenor Gardens London SW1W 0DH, United Kingdom Dear Ambassador, On International Human Rights Day, we write to raise an urgent alarm about the ongoing imprisonment and mistreatment of Ibtissame Betty Lachgar, a feminist, psychologist, and long-standing human rights defender whose continued detention exposes a wider pattern of repression in Morocco. Her case reflects the targeting of activists, dissidents, LGBT people, secular voices and dissenting women. In August 2025 Betty was arrested and sentenced to 30 months... Filed as: Press Releases
December 9, 2025		Ibtissame Betty Lachgar: A precedent that the UK Government cannot ignore 10 December 2025 The Rt Hon David Lammy MP Foreign Secretary Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) King Charles Street London SW1A 2AH, United Kingdom fcdo.correspondence@fcdo.gov.uk Dear Foreign Secretary David Lammy, On International Human Rights Day, we write to urge urgent and decisive intervention in the case of Ibtissame Betty Lachgar, a Moroccan feminist, psychologist, and human rights defender whose imprisonment exposes the escalating repression of activists, LGBT people, secular voices, and dissenting women in Morocco. Her case also raises significant concerns for British nationals and UK residents, including dual nationals, due to its unprecedented extraterritorial basis. In August... Filed as: Press Releases
December 1, 2025		Why NOT Islam! Join Ex-Muslims International (of which Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain is a founding member) in collaboration with Haram Doodles and Ex-Muslims of North America for the fourth annual Ex-Muslim Month this December in loudly, proudly and unapologetically saying: “why NOT Islam!” Ex-Muslim Month 2025 expands the U.S. success of the epic #whyNOTislam campaign earlier this year by Ex-Muslims of North America. Their message is simple: Losing faith in Islam? You’re not alone! We Ex-Muslims are a global community of people who, somewhere along the way, lost our faith in Islam too. And, we’re done being treated as a threat and excusing a religious system that continues to harm.... Filed as: Featured, Homepage, Press Releases
November 26, 2025		CALLS TO FREE BETTY DURING 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM 2025 PUBLIC BRIEFING: CALLS TO FREE BETTY DURING 16 DAYS OF ACTIVISM 2025 November 25 – December 10, 2025 Help Free Ibtissame Betty Lachgar As we enter the global 16 Days of Activism against sex-based violence, the Free Betty Coalition is calling on the public to help secure the release of Ibtissame Betty Lachgar, a Moroccan feminist and human rights defender imprisoned for a peaceful act of expression. The coalition represents hundreds of organisations representing hundreds of thousands of people. Betty was arrested on 10 August 2025 in Morocco for posting a photograph, taken in London, in which she wore a... Filed as: Featured, Homepage, Press Releases
November 17, 2025		PRESS STATEMENT: Hundreds of Organisations Join the Free Betty Coalition to Mark Ibtissame Betty Lachgar’s 100 Days of Imprisonment in Morocco PRESS STATEMENT: Hundreds of Organisations Join the Free Betty Coalition to Mark Ibtissame Betty Lachgar’s 100 Days of Imprisonment in Morocco Goal: 100,000 signatures to Free Betty For Immediate Release 18 November 2025 Today marks 100 days since Moroccan feminist and human rights defender Ibtissame Betty Lachgar was imprisoned in Rabat, Morocco for posting a photograph of herself wearing an “Allah is Lesbian” T-shirt. Her sentence of 30 months stems solely from an act of peaceful expression defending women’s and LGBT rights made outside Morocco. To mark the 100 days of imprisonment, hundreds of organisations, representing hundreds of thousands of... Filed as: Featured, Homepage, Press Releases
November 8, 2025		Urgent Concern Over Arrest and Disappearance of Egyptian Activist Sherif Gaber PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release Date: 8 November 2025 Ex-Muslims International, including Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain, expresses deep concern following credible reports that Sherif Gaber was arrested on 4 November 2025. Sherif Gaber is a well-known Egyptian atheist, political activist, blogger, and YouTuber who advocates for free thought, secularism, and scientific reasoning in Egypt and the wider Arab world. According to information obtained his current whereabouts remain unknown and no official authority has confirmed the reason for his detention or where he is being held. The reports of Gaber’s detention come amid what appears to be a wider government... Filed as: Featured, Homepage, Press Releases
September 30, 2025		#FreeBetty Sign the Petition \| Get a T-Shirt \| Download the Press Dossier in English \| Visit Ex-Muslims International Free Betty Page Open letter by Siham Lachgar on her sister’s dire situation Maryam Namazie’s piece in The Freethinker – Freedom of expression lives where offence begins: In defence of Ibtissame Betty Lachgar Ex-Muslims International (Ex-MI), of which Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) is a founding member, launched a global campaign ahead of Apostasy Day (August 22) to #FreeBetty for Ibtissame Betty Lachgar, a feminist, atheist, psychologist, and long-time human rights activist who has been arrested for “blasphemy” by Moroccan authorities. She has been sentenced... Filed as: Homepage, Press Releases, Spotlight
September 26, 2025		Message from Siham Lachgar, Ibtissame Betty Lachgar’s sister in blood and battle My sister Ibtissame Betty Lachgar has been detained for 45 days in cruel and degrading conditions that amount to psychological torture and violate her integrity. She is still being held in solitary confinement. This is inhumane! No human being should be treated this way. My sister Ibtissame Betty Lachgar is a survivor of Ewing’s sarcoma, a bone cancer diagnosed when she was 20 years old. She has been living with a disability ever since and wears a prosthesis on her left arm. In France, she has ALD status, which is a long-term illness. The latest medical reports warn of major... Filed as: Press Releases
September 22, 2025		30 SEPTEMBER, BLASPHEMY DAY #FREEBETTY On Blasphemy Day, we need your voice more than ever. Join Ex-Muslims International in demanding the decriminalisation of blasphemy laws and the immediate release of Ibtissame Betty Lachgar, a renowned rights activist unjustly imprisoned in Morocco. Betty has been sentenced to two and a half years behind bars—for nothing more than posting a photo of herself in London wearing a t-shirt that read “Allah is Lesbian.” She is a cancer survivor, urgently in need of medical care. Every day she remains imprisoned is a risk to her health, her life, and her freedom. Our Spokesperson Maryam Namazie highlights Betty’s case here. Also,... Filed as: Featured, Homepage, Press Releases