Maryam Namazie’s so-called Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain offers its take on the Gillian Gibbons case. The MCB, which forthrightly condemned Ms Gibbons’ arrest and stated that it was “appalled at the decision of the Sudanese authorities” to charge her, is falsely quoted as saying it found the situation merely “embarrassing”, and is further accused of favouring the lashing of people who insult Islam, while the adoption of an utterly toothless law against incitement to religious hatred is equated with death threats against apostates:
“The CEMB notes that Islamic organisations such as the Muslim Council of Britain find the events in Sudan ’embarrassing’ – as indeed all supporters of the Shariah should. But they do so on the grounds that no insult to Islam was intended by Ms Gibbons. This implies that had an insult been perpetrated, it would have been deemed a crime and punishable according to the Shariah, which could have resulted in 40 lashes or worse. Recent death threats against apostates or the case of the Danish cartoons of Muhammad two years ago are some examples of how any criticism is deemed offensive or insulting. Islamists will not hesitate to use Islamic law where possible or other violent means to stifle such criticism. In line with this, they have been aggressively campaigning for a law on incitement to religious hatred in the UK, which will severely curtail freedom of expression.”