A Moroccan court on Monday sentenced rapper Mohamed Mounir, known as Gnawi, to one year in jail for insulting police on social media.
A defence lawyer said he believed his 31-year-old client was prosecuted because of a song he co-wrote about the hardships of young people in Morocco, unemployment and corruption.
Gnawi, who was arrested November 1, said he had insulted the police in a video which he posted on his Instagram account because he had been “humiliated” by them.
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The song “Aach al Chaab” — which means long live the people — has been viewed more than 15 million times on YouTube since it was released last month.
AFP reports that the lyrics denounce injustice and money-grabbing and attack Morocco’s king directly, which according to local media constitutes a clear breach of the kingdom’s “red lines”.
However, the court in Sale near the capital Rabat sentenced Gnawi to one year in jail and fined him 1,000 dirhams ($103) for “insulting a public servant”, a reference to the police.
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