On 8 February 2023, the long-awaited report – The Independent Review of Prevent – conducted by the commissioner for public appointments William Shawcross, was published after much skepticism, delay and controversy, even from within the cabinet.[1] The Prevent Duty, born in the wake of 9/11 as part of the government’s counter-terrorism strategy, places a duty…
On January 18, Mila, a 16 years old teenager attacked Islam in reaction to insults she received on her Instagram account, opening a major debate in French society on the « right to blasphemy ». Originating from the Lyon’s region, Mila was criticized online “in the name of Allah” because of her sexual orientation, which led her…
February 28, 2014 An online petition demanding Katy Perry’s Dark Horse video be taken off YouTube has attracted about 65,000 signatures. According to the petitioners at Change.org, the video is guilty of “portraying blasphemy”, because of the video’s use of a pendant reportedly inscribed with the word Allah. Katy Perry’s Dark Horse clip, which…
February 19, 2014 French Muslims have sued satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for blasphemy in Strasbourg for publishing a cover page with the headline: “The Koran is shit – it doesn’t stop bullets.” The League of Judicial Defence of Muslims (LDJM) led by former lawyers Karim Achoui, has brought the case before the criminal court…
January 31, 2014 The family of a second British man facing blasphemy charges in Pakistan said yesterday that he is entirely innocent and called for more to be done to allow him to return to the UK. Masud Ahmad, 72, is currently on bail in Lahore after he was allegedly tricked into publicly reading…
