On November 18th, the Nozha Misdemeanors Court of Egypt sentenced Ahmed Abdo Maher to five years in prison. The sentence stated that Maher is guilty of "contempt of Islam, stirring up sectarian strife and posing a threat to the national unity."
A November 10, 2021 press release of the US Department of Justice announced that two top leaders of Lev Tahor were convicted of kidnapping and child sexual exploitation. 39-year old Nachman Helbrans and 45-year old Mayer Rosner, the US leaders of the ultra-orthodox Jewish sect Lev Tahor, are both facing life sentences.
Atheist Republic celebrates the recent release of Iranian atheist activist and blogger Soheil Arabi from prison! While Soheil is still facing legal hurdles before he can be truly freed from the stranglehold of the Islamic Republic of Iran, his recent release is a massive victory and relief for Iranian atheists and their allies.
On Monday, November 15, a group of right-wing Hindus set fire to Salman Khurshid’s house in Satkhol Village, near the Nainital district in the Uttarakhand state. In October, Khurshid, the former Foreign Minister of India, published a book where he compares extremist Hindutva groups to Islamist groups like ISIS and Boko Haram.
A lawsuit against a Hindu organization based in New Jersey has been amended with more plaintiffs and more respondents spanning five states. The case against Bochasanwasi Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a Hindu organization based in New Jersey, now includes temples in California, Illinois, Texas, and Georgia.
On Monday, November 8, Pakistan announced that it had lifted the ban on the radical Islamist party Tehreek-e-Labiak Pakistan (TLP) after causing violent protests that lasted days, leaving six police officers and four demonstrators dead.
Friday, November 5, 2021, marks the 13th day of Richard Ratcliffe's hunger strike. Speaking to the Guardian, he said that this time, it is more visceral. "It's smaller, darker, more pointed. I'm saying things I wouldn't have said two years ago," he added. Ratcliffe's hunger strike is aimed at pressuring the British government to take action in releasing his wife.
On October 31, US District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth, Texas, ruled that businesses that hold religious beliefs are exempt from LGBTQ discrimination liability. O’Connor held that Braidwood Management Inc. is exempted from the LGBTQ anti-bias protections under the first amendment and Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
On Tuesday, October 26, the Supreme Administrative Court of Greece banned kosher and halal slaughter methods. These forms of ritual slaughter are religious requirements for Jews and Muslims. Both ways require animals to be slaughtered without anesthesia.
