Comedian Jamel Debbouze Criticizes Harsh Sentence for Actor’s Offensive Video in Morocco

As part of the assessment of the 10th edition of the Marrakech du rire, Jamel Debbouze gave an interview to the newspaper Le Parisien, during which he returned to the Brahim Bouhlel case, the Franco-Algerian actor sentenced to eight months in prison in Marrakech. He took the opportunity to give his opinion on Moroccan justice.

For him, a sentence of eight months in prison for the acts charged against Bouhlel, who in April 2021 had posted an insulting video against Moroccan women and children on social networks, is barely believable. Jamel Debbouze found the sentence "disproportionate" but insists that the video posted was unacceptable. "It was not just a bad joke. There was an invasion of the privacy of children," he stressed.

However, he remains convinced that all this could have been avoided. "The justice system has condemned this artist, I found it extremely hard, too hard. I’m not a judge, I regret this story, which deeply touched me. I’m not going to judge the sentence, I’m just saying it’s an unfortunate accident."

If he was so saddened by the conviction of his colleague, why didn’t Jamel Debbouze intervene with the Moroccan justice system to reduce the sentence? Highly irritated, the boss of Marrakech du rire cannot believe that such a question was asked of him. "How do you want me to intervene with the justice system? Do you think Morocco is a grocery store or what?" he replied.

Jamel Debbouze took the opportunity to emphasize that there is no amalgamation to be made about his relations with Morocco. "Morocco has carried me, it’s my first audience, it’s the Moroccan associations that came to see me perform in Nanterre, who took me on tour, it’s the Moroccan Banque Populaire who helped me print my first flyers. This country was the first to help me in my own country, in France. This festival is a way of saying thank you to it."