The Humanist Movement in Sweden and the International Humanist community call upon the Swedish authorities to reopen the case of Khalid Saeed from Pakistan, whose application for a residence permit in Sweden has been rejected by the Migration Board. He could now be sent back to Pakistan with his entire family.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) is calling for Sweden to provide asylum to Khalid Saeed, a Pakistani atheist and apostate from Islam who fled his homeland to live in Sweden.  Khalid’s initial request for asylum was rejected by Swedish authorities because they did not accept that his outspoken atheism had made it unsafe for him and his family in Pakistan.

The 2010 General Assembly and Annual Conference of the European Humanist Federation (EHF) will be held in Stockholm, Sweden at the end of May. Events will start with an open meeting in the morning of Friday, May 28, followed by the General Assembly in the afternoon. The next day – Saturday, May 29 – EHF is holding a one day conference on Women and Religion, as detailed below.

IHEU member organization Swedish Humanist Association has launched a major advertising campaign with an eye-catching take on the Swedish flag and the slogan "God probably doesn't exist".

In a new 30-minute film, Swedish film maker Henrik Thome tracks IHEU's International Director Babu Gogineni as he and his colleagues visit a village in Nalgonda district in Andhra Pradesh state, where an independent minded Dalit woman was murdered on the pretext that she was a witch. After meeting the victim's family, they start an educational and media initiative in the region to bring the killers of Bhuvanagiri Somamma to justice. After meeting with rationalist Bikshapathy, whose family was made an outcast by fellow Dalits, the team travels to Bidar town in neighbouring Karnataka state where they join Prof. Narendra Nayak, President of the Federation of Indian Rationalists Associations, and rationalists from Tamil Nadu for some spectacular action. Watch this film which premiered at the IHEU's World Conference on Untouchability in London on 10 June 2009 here.

The Organisation for Women's Liberation is holding an international conference in Sweden on thr occasion of International Women's Day, 8 March 2009, called: Why is Secularism essential? The conference will focus on the detrimental effect of religion on women's lives.

On 30 July, as part of the programme of Europride 2008, the Swedish Humanist Association organised two very successful events. The first was a panel discussion, ‘Religion: the hotbed of homophobia?’ for which the 120-person auditorium in the main Pride Hall of Stockholm was packed to capacity, with many more would-be listeners turned away at the door. The second was a more informal pub evening allowing humanists from different countries to discuss the issues of the day over drinks and food.

Prof. Carl-Johan Kleberg, former Chairman of the Swedish Humanist Association, presented this report to the 1st Baltic Humanist Conference in Stockholm. Based on a study of 11 Nordic countries – Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden, it makes a series of recommendations viz.

Humanisterna, IHEU’s Swedish member organisation, is arguably the world’s fastest growing national Humanist group: membership jumped up by 150% in 2006, and today the group has over 3000 members. Humanisterna had the advantage of being led by charismatic and prominent leaders like Michael Goransson and Carl-John Kleberg, and now by internet entrepreneur Christer Sturmark (see cover page).

One of Sweden’s best-known cultural figures is a member of the Swedish Humanist Association. Björn Ulvaeus is instantly recognizable to most Swedes and many others as one of the four members of the super-group ABBA. Together with his fellow ABBA member Benny Andersson, he wrote the musicals “Chess” and “Kristina”. Now he is involved with the hit musical “Mamma Mia!” which has been seen by 25 million people around the world. At the Baltic Humanist Conference in Stockholm, Bjorn Ulvaeus was given the Humanisterna's Hedenius Prize in acknowledgement of his support for the Humanist life stance and critical thinking.

Christer Sturmark, Chairman of the Swedish Humanist Association, meets him for an interview about religion, politics and the humanist view of life.