Drop All Blasphemy Charges against Mubarak Bala and Release Him!

  • von: Freya Harris
  • empfänger: Kano State Police, Kaduna State Police, Nigerian Government

Mubarak Bala is a self-identified atheist from Kano State in northeast Nigeria. He became well known in 2014 when the media reported that he had been forcibly drugged and committed to a psychiatric unit by his family members after telling them he was atheist. He was released shortly thereafter and became an outspoken advocate for Nigerian atheist rights and freedoms. Until his arrest, Bala resided in Kaduna State, about 130 miles south of Kano, and served as the President of the Nigerian Humanist Association.

Mubarak Bala was arrested on April 28, 2020, reportedly for a Facebook post in which he allegedly insulted Prophet Muhammad. The post reportedly read, "Fact is, you have no life after this one. You have been dead before, long before you were born, billions of years of death." The arrest followed a petition by a group of lawyers to the Kano State Police Commissioner to prosecute Bala for posting things on Facebook that are "provocative and annoying to Muslims," and a Change.org petition to close Bala's Facebook account.

Mubarak Bala has not yet been formally charged. Advocates believe he may be charged with blasphemy under Section 210 of the Penal Code of Kano State, and/or with violating Section 26(1)(c) of the Cyber-crimes Act, which criminalizes insult of any persons due to their belonging to a group distinguished by their religion, among other characteristics. A blasphemy conviction under Kano's Shari'a court could lead to a death sentence, and if found guilty of violating the Cybercrimes Act he could face a fine and up to five years in prison.

We the undersigned call for him to be released immediately, and for all charges against him to be dropped.

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