RABAT: A Moroccan rapper and Islamist activist has had his eight-month jail term upheld on appeal over his music and online posts criticizing corruption and his country’s normalization with Israel, his lawyer said Tuesday.
Souhaib Kabli, known professionally as L7assal, was accused of “insulting a public body” and faced a maximum sentence of four years in prison.
“It’s an error of judgment. There was no intention to offend anyone, nor were there any explicitly offensive remarks,” his lawyer Mohammed Taifi told AFP.
The 23-year-old rapper, also a member of the banned but tolerated Islamist movement Al Adl Wal Ihssane, was arrested and sentenced in March.
He appeared at an appeals court in his hometown Taza on charges of “insulting a public body” and “undermining the respect due to constitutional institutions.”
His lawyer said Kabli told the court that he had only “expressed his opinions” without intending to insult any individuals or institutions.
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights had called for the rapper’s release and the charges against him to be dropped, calling the arrest a “political way of restricting freedom of expression.”
