(AllHipHop News) Moroccan rapper Gnawi has been sentenced to a year behind bars for releasing a video in which he insults police officials.
In the video, he also attacks Morocco’s drug use issues and expresses frustration with the king.
The former military serviceman, real name Mohamed Mounir, was handed a one-year prison sentence on Monday.
Fans believe the punishment was prompted by the hard-hitting viral video for “3acha Cha3b (Long Live the People),” released last month, which also took on his homeland’s economic and migration issues.
Insulting police officials is a crime punishable by up to two years in prison in Morocco.
Many Moroccans were shocked by Gnawi’s opposition to the king.
The rapper’s “3acha Cha3b” collaborator Lz3er tells the Associated Press his friend was not trying to stir up controversy, adding, “We voiced what the majority of Moroccans feel but fear to say…”
“All of us are in the ‘see and be quiet’ mode, but I do this because I don’t want to see and be quiet. That’s why people respond to my music.”
