Australia and the Netherlands Commit to Work to Repeal the Death Penalty for Apostasy and Blasphemy

PRESS RELEASE 27 November 2020

Australia as part of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance will be prioritising the repeal of the death penalty for #apostasy and #blasphemy laws at the UN.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Women Marise Payne stated to the Ministerial Forum of the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance last week:

“When it comes to the use of the death penalty for apostasy or blasphemy, we have been strong in our advocacy, including in the Asia Bibi case in Pakistan.

So, we look forward to joining with Alliance members to multiply our efforts as we work against the death penalty in similar instances.”

You can read Minister Payne’s full statement here.

The Netherlands has also joined Australia in their efforts, as shared by the Religious Freedom and Belief Ambassador Jos Douma on twitter this week.