Our friend and colleague, Mubarak Bala, remains in prison for ‘blasphemy’.

Mubarak Bala is the President of the Nigerian Humanist Association, and we, and the entire humanist community, are devastated by his conviction. Mubarak is the victim of unjust and inhumane blasphemy laws. He deserves freedom. While we welcome the news that his prison sentence has been reduced from 24 years to five, the fact remains that he never should have been imprisoned in the first place, and is still in jail now. Please, join us in calling for his immediate and unconditional release. Please, if you do one thing today, write to your MP, and join the struggle to get his sentence overturned.

It’s now been over 4 years since Mubarak Bala was first arrested for posting ‘blasphemous’ content on Facebook.

During this time he has been treated atrociously: denied access to his lawyers, family, proper legal counsel, and held for a long time without charge. We have often feared for his life. His conviction is a violation of freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief. This has gone on long enough.

Write to your MP today and help us free Mubarak Bala, by entering your postcode above.

We’ve suggested some text you can use, but please, if you are able, do edit it to make it more personal – we know that MPs are more likely to take notice of personalised emails and queries, which are infinitely more powerful than standard letters.

Here are some examples:

• If you are from Nigeria, or have Nigerian heritage – please talk about this, and your knowledge of what it is like to be non-religious there
• If you are from another country where non-religious people are persecuted – please again refer to this, explain how that makes you feel, and how you can therefore relate to what Mubarak is going through
• If you have left a high-control religion – please talk about your experiences as an apostate, and how important you find it to be able to talk about your rejection of your former religion.

Thank you for your support.