Ibtissame Lachgar, an LGBT rights campaigner and a co-founder of the Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms, was arrested in Morocco over allegations of blasphemy.
Ibtissame Lachgar, an LGBT rights campaigner and a co-founder of the Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms, was arrested in Morocco over allegations of blasphemy after she posted photos of herself wearing a shirt with the slogan “Allah is a lesbian,” according to international media reports.
The 50-year-old activist remains in custody as the investigation continues. Her lawyer, Naima Elguellaf, told Agence France-Presse the trial is postponed until August 27.
Authorities said they were investigating the photos, which depict her wearing a shirt with phrases “offensive to the divine, along with a caption insulting Islam,” according to the Telegraph.
Elguellaf said the court had not yet responded to a request that would see Lachgar provisionally released.
Lachgar posted the photo on Instagram last month with the caption, “You tire us with your sanctimoniousness, your accusations. Yes, Islam, like any religious ideology, is FASCIST. PHALLOCRATIC AND MISOGYNISTIC.”
She has regularly posted content criticizing other religions, including Judaism and Christianity.
She would later state that after the post, she received “thousands of sexist insults, rape and death threats, calls for murder, stoning etc…”
Under the Moroccan penal code, those convicted of “causing harm” to Islam can be imprisoned for up to two years, and or given a fine of more than 200,000 Moroccan dirhams.
Previous arrests and activism
This is not the first time the activist had been charged with a crime while protesting her country’s laws. Lachgar was arrested for organizing controversial events like the “kiss-in” in 2013 following the arrest of three teenagers.
Two teenagers and their friend were arrested for “violating public decency” for posting photos of themselves kissing on social media.
AFP reported that she was arrested, though not prosecuted, in 2016 for disturbing public order, and in 2018 amid a campaign in support of abortion rights.
A 2009 picnic during Ramadan also reportedly resulted in her receiving death threats.