فاس نيوز ميديا جريدة الكترونية جهوية تعنى بشؤون و أخبار جهة فاس مكناس – متجددة على مدار الساعة
The Rabat Court of Appeal on Monday confirmed the two-and-a-half-year prison sentence initially handed down against Moroccan feminist activist Ibtissame Lachgar for “attacking Islam.” The decision upholds the first-instance ruling issued in early September.
The 50-year-old activist, known for her advocacy for individual liberties, was arrested last summer after posting an image on social media of herself wearing a T-shirt bearing the phrase “Allah is lesbian,” accompanied by text criticizing Islam as, like any religious ideology, “fascist, phallocratic, and misogynistic.”
At the hearing, Lachgar’s defense counsel announced plans to request a sentence reduction, proposing conversion of the prison term to an alternative sentence, alongside filing a cassation appeal.
Prosecutors argued that her act violated public order and the religious sensitivities of citizens, leading the court to confirm the verdict.
The ruling has sparked wide controversy, with Human Rights Watch calling the conviction “a severe blow to freedom of expression in Morocco” and urging the authorities to repeal this harsh legislation that criminalizes dissent. Lachgar, who is a survivor of bone cancer requiring urgent surgery, remains imprisoned under strict isolation conditions.
Her case has polarized public opinion, highlighting tensions in Morocco over freedom of speech, secularism, and religious respect.
