Moroccan Celebrities Summoned in ’Hamza Mon BB’ Social Media Scandal

The summons of the singer Dounia Batma follows a complaint filed by the National Center for Human Rights last July with the Attorney General of the King near the Court of Appeal of Marrakech for defamation and insults on social networks, reports Akhbar Al Yaoum. The target: the president of the center and some of its lawyers, members of its office. They accused the singer of being behind the "Hamza moun bb" accounts on Snapchat and Instagram because of a dispute that opposes them.

Dounia Batma is not the only person to receive a summons from the BNPJ. The artist Fatima Zahra Laaziri, known as "Chikha Trax", was also summoned following a complaint filed against her by the singer Saida Charaf. The latter is expected, next Monday, at the court of first instance of Marrakech where she will testify during the second hearing of the trial of a student from Agadir, named "A.A.". Last August, the investigating judge had ordered his incarceration for invasion of privacy and defamation.

Still in the same case, "M.A.", a correspondent for an online newspaper, "A.S.", the owner of a car rental agency and "C.J.", a blogger, have had their pre-trial detention extended by one month. This time will allow the preliminary investigation to be finalized. These accused are all being prosecuted for "dissemination of false allegations with the aim of infringing on the privacy of individuals" and "blackmail".