The trial to “attack the Islam” of the Moroccan feminist activist Ibtissame Lachgar opened this Wednesday, August 13, less than 24 hours after his detention location, but was immediately postponed to August 27 at the request of the defense, his lawyer told the AFP.
The clinical psychologist, Ibtissame “Betty” Lachgar, a 50 -year -old activist known for his commitment to individual freedoms, published at the end of July a photo of his dressed with a shirt where the word “Allah” (“God”) appeared followed by the “phrase” (“is lesbian”).
The image was accompanied by a text that qualifies Islam, “like any religious ideology”, “fascist, falocrat and misogynist”, a publication that aroused strong reactions in social networks, ranging from calls to their arrests to threats of rape and stone.
A “cancer survivor
Placed in police custody on Sunday, Ibtissame Lachgar was arrested on Tuesday for involving the Islamic religion waiting for his trial. His lawyer, Naïma Elguellaf, explained that he had asked for the postponement to prepare for defense, as well as a provisional release of his client.
Me Elguellaf has argued health problems of Ibtissame Lachgar, described by a loved one as a “cancer survivor that requires treatment.” According to this friend, present at the hearing, the lawyer also invoked the absence of “direct threat to the security of others”, as well as that of the accused in case of provisional release.
However, this request was rejected by the court, the family of defense was told to the AFP. Article 267-5 of the Moroccan Criminal Code, under which it is prosecuted for the activist, punishes from six months to two years in prison “anyone who undermines Muslim religion.”
The sanction is likely to be delivered to five years in prison if the crime is committed in public, “including electronically.” In the past, the activism of Ibtissame Lachgar earned him several problems with the authorities, especially in 2016 and 2018, but without giving rise to prosecution.
Source: BFM TV
