September 30, 2025
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...
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September 26, 2025
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...
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September 22, 2025
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,...
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September 3, 2025
By Maryam Namazie Published 3 September in The Freethinker. IN FRENCH: La liberté d’expression prend vie là où le délit commence : pour la défense d’Ibtissame Betty Lachgar Freedom of expression lives where offence begins. To offend is to question certainty, to strip the sacred of its privilege, and to laugh in the face of fear and threats. A society that bans offence bans thought itself. Morocco is the latest case in point. Since 10 August, feminist and human rights activist Ibtissame Betty Lachgar has been in prison because of an ‘Allah is Lesbian’ t-shirt she has worn for years....
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August 28, 2025
From Ex-Muslims International On 27 August 2025, protesters gathered outside the Moroccan Embassy in London to demand the immediate release of Moroccan activist Ibtissame Betty Lachgar, arrested and prosecuted for “attacking the Muslim faith” after sharing a photo of herself wearing a T-shirt that read: “Allah is a Lesbian.” The protest was attended by secularists, apostates from Islam and Hinduism, women’s rights activists, and human rights defenders. Those present included Maryam Namazie (Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain), Rahila Gupta (writer and human rights activist), Veiled Rose (Faithless Hijabi), representatives of Ex-Muslims International, the National Secular Society, Leicester Secular Society, and FiLiA women’s rights organisation. Supporters...
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August 26, 2025
Ibtissame Betty Lachgar, a Moroccan secularist, feminist, ex-Muslim and LGBT rights campaigner was arrested on 10 August 2025 in Rabat, Morocco for her photo on social media wearing a T-shirt with the slogan “Allah is Lesbian.” ‘Betty has worn the same T-shirt for many years now. The arrest follows a pile-on of threats of rape, death, lynching and stoning orchestrated by the religious-Right. On the day of her trial in Rabat on 27 August, Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain. Ex-Muslims International and Faithless Hijabi have organised a protest at the Moroccan Embassy in London demanding #FreeBetty. Date: Wednesday 27 August...
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August 25, 2025
Urgent: Free Betty: Jailed for a T-shirt Protest 27 Aug, London Join protest in defence of Moroccan activist Ibtissame Betty Lachgar, who has been imprisoned and faces trial on Wednesday 27 August after sharing a photo wearing a T-shirt that read “Allah is a Lesbian.” Being LGBT is not an insult; criticism of religion is not a crime. Blasphemy laws have no place in any society. Event details Date: Wednesday 27 August 2025 Time: 15:00–16:00 Location: Moroccan Embassy, 49 Queen’s Gate Gardens, London SW7 5NE Organisers: Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), Ex-Muslims International (ExMI), and Faithless Hijabi Why this...
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August 20, 2025
PRESS RELEASE: Ex-Muslims International Launches #FreeBetty Campaign ahead of Apostasy Day Ex-Muslims International, of which Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain is a founding member, is launching 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 faces trial on August 27 for sharing a photo on X of herself in a T-shirt that read: “Allah is lesbian.” For this, she now sits in a prison cell—while thousands who issued death and rape threats against her online...
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July 15, 2025
Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and One Law for All Joint Submission to Islamophobia/Anti-Muslim Hatred Definition Working Group 15 July 2025 1. Introduction Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB), founded in 2007, and One Law for All, founded in 2008, jointly represent individuals challenging religious fundamentalism and defending secularism, universal human rights, and freedom of expression. CEMB was established to support those who have left Islam and to campaign for the rights of apostates and blasphemers from Muslim backgrounds. One Law for All campaigns against parallel legal systems in Britain and for one secular law that treats everyone equally, regardless...
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June 2, 2025
Ex-Muslims International Statement: This Pride Month, Ex-Muslims International and Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain stand in unwavering solidarity with LGBTQ+ ex-Muslims across the globe—those who are not only criminalized for who they love and who they are, but also for what they no longer believe. #ExMuslimPride For LGBTQ+ individuals who have left Islam or are questioning their faith, life is not just difficult—it can be dangerous. In many Muslim-majority societies, queer identity and religious dissent are both seen as moral crimes. There are 57 Muslim-majority countries in the world today. Among them: At least 12 countries criminalize and punish apostasy...
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