The support committee for Moroccan feminist activist Ibtissame Lachgar is raising the alarm about a further deterioration in her health in detention, stating that she now needs surgery and calling for a pardon on humanitarian grounds.
Gathered in Rabat, his lawyers and relatives spoke of a risk of serious, even life-threatening, deterioration of his condition, according to doctors who had examined his case. They also denounced inadequate care conditions in prison.
"Ibtissam is in a very worrying state of health, because there is a risk that her prosthetic arm will have to be amputated — it needs to be replaced, which has still not been done. This reflects the poor conditions of her detention ," says Hakim Sikouk, president of the Rabat section of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH).
The defense committee had already raised concerns last March about the activist's health, believing that her condition had deteriorated in detention. "The only option now, given that the appeal is pending and this is hindering the request for an alternative sentence, is indeed a royal pardon on humanitarian and health grounds, due to the risk of death, as highlighted by the doctors who have reviewed her case. There is a risk of complications and death looming for Betty (Ibtissame Lachgar) ," laments her lawyer, Ghizlane Mamouni.
Ibtissame Lachgar, a figure in feminist activism and individual freedoms in Morocco, was arrested in August 2025 after a photo of her wearing a t-shirt with the inscription "Allah is lesbian" was published on social media , a publication that sparked a heated controversy in the country and led to prosecution for insulting the Muslim religion.
