July 11, 2016

Filed as: Press Releases

June 26, 2016
Algeria Suppressing Free of expression and conscience On 9 June 2016, the Algerian National Gendarmerie arrested two social media activists, Rachid Fodil, 27 and H. S., 28 in the Algerian Province of M’sila. They have been accused of propagating blasphemous materials and insulting Islam and the Quran on social media. The two were set to stand trial on 22 June in Sidi Aissa but the court session was postponed until an undetermined date. The two young men have absurdly been depicted in Algerian press as having foreign affiliations. The Algerian Elbilad News website describes them as: “a dangerous criminal network operating over the...
Filed as: Press Releases

June 21, 2016
The following piece was published in The Freethinker on 21 June 2016. On June, 24, 2016, the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain is calling for a day to defy fasting rules in solidarity with those who face persecution for eating during fasting hours in Ramadan. We will be having an “eat-in” at various embassies in London, including the Bangladeshi, Egyptian, Iranian, Moroccan, Pakistani and Saudi embassies. We are also calling on people worldwide to upload images of themselves on social media violating fasting rules using the following hashtags: This type of fast-defiance in public every Ramadan has been spearheaded by...
Filed as: Media Coverage, Press Releases

June 9, 2016
Dear friend We hope you are well. UPCOMING EVENTS We have a number of interesting events and actions coming up in London over the next two months, including a “Mean Tweets Party,” a Fast-Defying protest in solidarity with those persecuted for eating during Ramadan, and an apostate flashmob. We also have some wonderful speakers lined up for our monthly meet-ups. For a current listing of events and speaking engagements, including internationally, visit here. [You can read Maryam Namazie’s recent speech at Reason Rally 2016 in Washington DC entitled: Out, Loud and Proud for Secularism here.] 24 JUNE 2016: FAST DEFYING...
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June 8, 2016
Below is Maryam Namazie speech at Reason Rally 2016 on 4 June 2016 in Washington DC. I’m very happy to be here. Thanks to the organisers for this wonderful event. Thanks to all of you for coming out today. I think you should give yourselves a huge round of applause. It’s well deserved. In the age of ISIS and the retreat of reason, being out, loud and proud for secularism is important. If only to say: We exist and that there are many of us. This – in and of itself – be it in Afghanistan, Iran, Saudi Arabia or the...
Filed as: Press Releases

May 28, 2016
Maryam Namazie was interviewed on BBC World at One on sharia courts in Britain and the government’s inquiry into them. You can see it here: BBC World At One She also debate the courts with Mohammad Shafiq from the Ramadan Foundation on RT. You can see it here.
Filed as: Press Releases

May 3, 2016
Protect the rights to freedom of religion, belief, and expression. Statement on attacks on atheists, secularists, and religious minorities in Bangladesh May 3, 2016 We, the undersigned academics, intellectuals, human rights advocates, and organizations from Bangladesh and around the world, unequivocally condemn recent statements by Bangladesh government officials appearing to blame writers, publishers, and activists for their own deaths at the hands of violent extremists with suspected links to militant Islamist groups. We strongly urge the Bangladesh government to immediately take steps to vigorously protect the rights to freedom of religion, belief, and expression, both in word and in deed....
Filed as: Press Releases

March 16, 2016
Protest at NUS: Urge reform of no-platform & safe space policies Challenge all bigotry and hate but also defend free expression On 17 March 2016, there will be a protest organised by Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain and Right2Debate at the National Union of Students HQ in London to urge reform of its safe space and no-platform policies, which restrict freedom of expression. This comes as 16 students from various universities have highlighted 20 different case studies of censorship. Speakers at the rally include Alexa Robertson, Secretary of National Federation of Atheist, Humanist and Secular Student Societies; Asher Fainman, President...
Filed as: Press Releases

March 11, 2016
Hello We are writing to you to ask for your support in favour of free expression and one secular law for all. 17 MARCH RALLY FOR FREE EXPRESSION ON UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES As you know, Islamists are often free to speak at universities whilst those of us providing a progressive counter-narrative are repeatedly denied or restricted from speaking. We are wrongly accused of Islamophobia and “incitement to hatred” when we are in fact challenging the Islamists’ hatred of apostates, women, Muslim dissenters and others. Warwick University Student Union, for example, initially barred our spokesperson, Maryam Namazie, from speaking to the Atheist...
Filed as: Press Releases

February 25, 2016
TO SIGN ON TO THIS PETITION, CLICK HERE. We, the undersigned, are outraged to learn that forty state-run media outlets in Iran have raised $600,000 (£420,000) to add as bounty to Ayatollah Khomeini’s death fatwa on the writer Salman Rushdie, because of his novel The Satanic Verses. We condemn the Iranian regime, its fatwa and the added bounty. We stand with Salman Rushdie and the many Iranian freethinkers and writers languishing in prison, or facing the death penalty, for exercising their right to free expression and thought. The Iranian regime must face global condemnation for its incitement to murder. Moreover,...
Filed as: Press Releases