Latest news with #IbtissameLachgar
CTV News
8 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Morocco feminist activist remanded for ‘offending Islam' online
A Moroccan court on Tuesday remanded feminist activist Ibtissame Lachgar pending trial for 'offending Islam' over a post she made on social media, the public prosecutor's office told AFP. A Moroccan court on Tuesday remanded feminist activist Ibtissame Lachgar pending trial for 'offending Islam' over a post she made on social media, the public prosecutor's office told AFP. Lachgar, 50, was arrested Sunday after posting online late last month a picture of herself wearing a T-shirt with the word 'Allah' in Arabic followed 'is lesbian'. The picture she posted was accompanied by text saying Islam was 'like any religious ideology... fascist, phallocratic and misogynistic'. The date for the start of her trial has not yet been set. Many had called for her arrest as Morocco's penal code carries a sentence of up to two years in prison for 'anyone who offends the Islamic religion'. That sentence can be brought to five years if the offence is committed in public, 'including by electronic means'. Moroccan rights advocates have long criticized the law as a restrictive measure against freedom of expression. Lachgar's post sparked strong reactions on social media. She later said in a Facebook post she had received 'thousands of threats of rape, death, lynching and stoning'. Lachgar co-founded in 2009 the Alternative Movement for Individual Liberties (MALI), one of whose most publicized actions was a picnic held during Ramadan that year to challenge a law criminalizing breaking the fast in public without a valid religious reason. MALI has led several other campaigns against violence towards women and against child sexual abuse. Lachgar was already arrested -- though not prosecuted -- in 2016 for disturbing public order and in 2018 amid a MALI campaign in support of abortion rights in the North African country.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
Woman threatened with jail over ‘Allah is lesbian' T-shirt
An activist has been arrested in Morocco after posting a photo of herself wearing a T-shirt with the slogan 'Allah is a lesbian'. Ibtissame Lachgar, an LGBT rights campaigner, was detained over accusations of blasphemy and could now face several years in prison. Prosecutors in the north African country confirmed the 50-year-old had been taken into custody while they investigated the photograph, 'which depicts her wearing a shirt with phrases offensive to the divine, along with a caption insulting Islam'. The activist posted the photograph in late July with a caption saying: 'You tire us with your sanctimoniousness, your accusations. Yes, Islam, like any religious ideology, is FASCIST. PHALLOCRATIC AND MISOGYNISTIC.' She later said that her post had earned her 'thousands of sexist insults, rape and death threats, calls for murder, stoning etc'. The T-shirt caused outrage when the photograph was first posted and Ms Lachgar quoted some of her critics. 'Her freedom is an insult to all Moroccans,' said one. 'She alone is an insult to all the martyrs, our ancestors who proudly fought in the path of Allah to make this country what it is today.' Under the Moroccan penal code, anyone convicted of 'causing harm' to Islam can be imprisoned for up to two years, or given a fine of up to £16,500. Ms Lachgar is co-founder of the Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms and has repeatedly been arrested during protests. In Morocco, she is known for organising events such as a 2013 'kiss-in', in support of three teenagers arrested for posting pictures on Facebook of two of them kissing. A boy and girl, aged 15 and 14, alongside their 15-year-old male friend, had been charged with 'violating public decency' and held in a juvenile centre after posting the photo outside their school in the northern town of Nador. At the demonstration against creeping conservatism in Moroccan society, activists kissed outside the parliament building in the capital city.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Woman is arrested and threatened with stoning after wearing a T-shirt saying 'Allah is lesbian' in Morocco
A feminist activist in Morocco was taken into custody and said she was threatened online with stoning after posting a photo of herself wearing a T-shirt with the words: 'Allah is a lesbian.' Ibtissame Lachgar is accused of posting a photo wearing a shirt that is offensive to Islam, and writing a caption that was also insulting to the religion. The Public Prosecutor's Office at the Rabat Court of First Instance in Morocco announced she was taken into police custody on Sunday, as authorities investigate the photo. 'Following a woman's posting of a photo on her social media account, which depicts her wearing a shirt with phrases offensive to the divine, along with a caption insulting Islam, the public prosecutor ordered an investigation,' its statement said. 'Due to its urgency, the subject has been placed under police custody in accordance with the law.' In the photo, the outspoken feminist activist can be seen smiling with her hands on her hips as she poses wearing the T-shirt. She wrote on X: 'In Morocco, I walk around with T-shirts bearing messages against religions, Islam, etc. 'You tire us with your sanctimoniousness, your accusations. Yes, Islam, like any religious ideology, is FASCIST. PHALLOCRATIC AND MISOGYNISTIC.' Lachgar is a developmental psychologist as well as a feminist and atheist activist who has organised a number of protests in Morocco about women's rights, LGBTQ+ issues and male violence. She co-founded the Mouvement alternatif pour les libertés individuelles (MALI), which campaigns for individual freedoms such as the right for abortion and same-sex marriage. Her post sparked outrage online, as well as debate, with some accounts showing support for the feminist. After she posted the photo on July 31, Lachgar took to social media to describe the online hatred she received for wearing the T-shirt. Writing on Facebook, Lachgar said she had been subjected to three days of 'cyber bullying, thousands of threats of rape, death, calls for lynching and stoning'. She posted some of the comments she had been receiving as backlash, including one on X by the account @moufarrid which said: 'Our country is in danger; this woman named Ibtissem Lachgar is currently free. She was born in Rabat and currently lives in Morocco. She is a feminist activist, anti-royalist, pro-secularism, and openly Islamophobic. 'Her freedom is an insult to all Moroccans. She alone is an insult to all the martyrs, our ancestors who proudly fought in the path of Allah to make this country what it is today. Lachgar's post sparked outrage online, with many calling for her to be punished by the authorities 'The authorities have still not apprehended her, and this is unacceptable. We must not let such an act go unpunished. There is nothing more sacred to Moroccans than Allah, than Islam. This woman's place is behind bars.' A 2002 Moroccan law restricting media freedom states that expression deemed critical of 'Islam, the institution of the monarchy, or territorial integrity' is not permissible and may be punishable by imprisonment. Moreover, according to law, 'anyone who employs incitements to shake the faith of a Muslim or to convert him to another religion' incurs a sentence of three to six months' imprisonment and a fine of 115 to 575 MAD (£9.46 to £47.29). In 2007, Moroccan editor Driss Ksikes and journalist Sanaa al-Aji were handed three-year suspended sentences and ordered to pay fines of $8,000 (£5,948) each after an article they wrote about religious jokes. The journalists were accused of 'defaming Islam and damaging morality' and were banned from working for the magazine Nichane for two months In 2013, Lachgar was one of the organisers of a public 'kiss-in' in Rabat in support of three teenagers who were arrested for posting a photo of themselves kissing on Facebook. A boy and girl, aged 15 and 14, alongside their 15-year-old male friend, were charged with 'violating public decency' and held in a juvenile centre after posting the photo outside their school in the northern town of Nador, local media reported. At the demonstration protesting against conservatism in Moroccan society, the activists locked lips outside the parliament building in the capital city. In 2012, as part of her pro-choice advocacy, Lachgar invited the Women on Waves' abortion boat to anchor in Morocco as a symbolic protest against anti-abortion laws. The boat, purportedly offering medical abortions as well as advice, was manned by a Dutch campaign group who advocate for reproductive rights for women in countries where abortion is not legal. The boat started its journey from the Netherlands and was scheduled to dock at the port of Smir before it was blocked by authorities.
Ya Biladi
2 days ago
- Politics
- Ya Biladi
Activist Ibtissame Lachgar placed in custody over «blasphemous» t-shirt
Moroccan feminist activist Ibtissame Lachgar was taken into custody on Sunday, August 10, after posting a photo of herself wearing a t-shirt with «phrases offensive to the Divine Being», the Public Prosecutor at the Rabat Court of First Instance announced in a statement. The photo, shared on her social media account, was accompanied by a post «containing insults to the Islamic religion», the statement noted. The public prosecution has ordered an investigation into the matter and, «given the urgency», Lachgar was «placed in police custody in accordance with the law», the same source added. «The appropriate legal measures will be taken in light of the investigation's results once it is concluded», the statement specified. On social media, Lachgar's post has gone viral, drawing strong condemnation from many who called for her to be held accountable. Former Minister of Justice Mustapha Ramid also called for her prosecution, writing in a post: «The so-called Ibtissame Lachgar deserves to be questioned, if what has been attributed to her in some outlets, describing God Almighty in an inappropriate manner, is indeed true. This is not about a different opinion or personal belief, but about her deliberate insult to God Almighty, attributing to Him what should never be said or heard».
