Martin Rynja
Martin Rynja (b. 1964) is a Dutch publisher who works and resides in London, United Kingdom. He studied law at Leiden University before moving to England to work in publishing. Rynja works for Gibson Square a publishing house that specializes in works that are too controversial for larger established companies such as House of Bush, House of Saud which was turned down by Random House who feared that they would be sued for criminal libel. Other novels published by Rynja include If I Did It by O.J. Simpson, a "hypothetical" description of his murder of wife Nicole and her lover, and Blowing Up Russia by Alexander Litvinenko about Russia's secret plans to resurrect KGB terror operations.
In September 2008, Rynja bought the rights to the controversial novel The Jewel of Medina by Sherry Jones, a fictionalised story of A'isha, the first wife and child bride of Mohammed. He commented at the time that "As an independent publishing company, we feel strongly that we should not be afraid of the consequences of debate." It is thought that as a result of this decision Islamic extremists put a Molotov cocktail through the letterbox of his north London home at the end of September. Fortunately Rynja was not present in the house at the time having been warned previously by police that he should leave his home. Following the firebomb attack he went into hiding under police guard.
Before the attack Rynja said "I was completely bowled over by the novel and the moving love story it portrays, I was struck by the careful research of Sherry Jones, who is a journalist with almost 30 years of experience, and her passion for the novel's characters. I immediately felt that it was imperative to publish it. In an open society there has to be open access to literary works, regardless of fear."
A former member of an extremist Islamic organisation, Anjem Choudary, said that the decision to publish the book in other countries will have repercussions and that "Further attacks will be inevitable."
