Featured Image Credit: X/@ibtissamebetty
Topics: Crime, Social Media, Twitter, World News, LGBTQ
Ella Scott
Topics: Crime, Social Media, Twitter, World News, LGBTQ
An activist has been reprimanded and taken into custody after posting a photograph of her sporting a controversial ‘Allah is lesbian’ T-shirt online, authorities have confirmed.
Ibtissame ‘Betty’ Lachgar, 50, is a Moroccan feminist who faces up to two years in prison after she was arrested on Sunday (August 10).
It’s understood that Lachgar, who has organised multiple rallies for women's rights, LGBTQ+ issues and anti-male violence, posted a picture of herself online sporting a black T-shirt with the slogan ‘Allah is a lesbian’.
"In Morocco, I walk around with T-shirts bearing messages against religions, Islam, etc,” she wrote on X, as per LBC. “You tire us with your sanctimoniousness, your accusations. Yes, Islam, like any religious ideology, is FASCIST. PHALLOCRATIC AND MISOGYNISTIC.”
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According to The Public Prosecutor's Office at the Rabat Court of First Instance in Morocco, the post depicts phrases ‘offensive to the divine’ along with the caption ‘insulting Islam’.
The social media post has resulted in Lachgar’s arrest, with the public prosecutor ordering an investigation into the offensive post.
"Due to its urgency, the subject has been placed under police custody in accordance with the law," it said in a statement.
Former Minister of Justice Mustapha Ramid was among the Moroccans who reacted to the controversial post, as per Morocco World News.
He claimed there should be zero tolerance for insults aimed towards religion, reminding naysayers that the country has blasphemy laws in place to protect its sacred values.
“I recall the provisions of Article 267.5 of the Penal Code, which protects the unifying constants enshrined in Article 1 of the Constitution,” the publication wrote.
The co-founder of the Mouvement alternatif pour les libertés individuelles (MALI) - a campaign group fighting for civil liberties - could face up to six months to two years in prison if she is convicted.
She could also be served a hefty fine by officials for her crime.
Lachgar has claimed to have received 'thousands of sexist insults, rape and death threats, calls for murder, stoning, etc' over her Allah is a lesbian shirt.
The CEO of British gender-critical feminist charity FiLiA, Lisa-Marie Taylor, has called for the woman’s immediate release from police custody.
"We are proud to platform women who speak truth to power — including those who challenge and criticise religion — because this is, fundamentally, a feminist issue,” she said, as reported by the National Secular Society (NSS).
"Silencing women for 'blasphemy' is a violation of their human rights and an attack on women's freedom to think, speak, and live without fear".
Megan Manson, head of campaigns at NSS, added: “Blasphemy laws have no place anywhere.
"Freedom of expression must include freedom to criticise religion – even when that means offending religious sentiments. We call for Lachgar to be immediately released without charge and for Morocco to put an end to its draconian blasphemy laws."