Ibtissame Lachgar: Morocco Activist Faces Amputation Risk in Prison

Ibtissame “Betty” Lachgar, 50, was imprisoned last September for “offending Islam” after publishing a photo showing her wearing the slogan “Allah is a lesbian.” A bone cancer survivor, the activist has a prosthesis on her left arm, which became completely dislocated during her detention at Salé prison. Her lawyers say she is also suffering from an untreated elbow fracture, raising fears that amputation may be necessary without urgent surgery.

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The Avaaz organization and its lawyers denounce inhumane detention conditions, including six months in solitary confinement and nights spent on the floor without a mattress, The Daily Mail reports. The defense maintains that this sentence contradicts the 2011 Moroccan Constitution and the Kingdom’s international commitments to freedom of expression. Her family, denouncing persecution over her beliefs, is demanding her immediate medical transfer to France to halt what it considers an alarming physical deterioration.

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The case has drawn widespread international attention, with a support petition already collecting nearly 400 000 signatures. Co-founder of the Alternative Movement for Individual Liberties (MALI), Betty Lachgar wore the garment in solidarity with Iranian LGBTQ+ activists sentenced to death. As the UN has referred the case to a working group, the activist says she has also faced threats of lynching and stoning on social media.