Moroccan Singer Faces Charges for Controversial Performance at Eid Celebration

The Tangier prosecutor’s office has decided to prosecute the singer on provisional release. He will soon be informed of his court appearance date before the king’s prosecutor at the court of first instance. Moroccan law punishes any person inciting such behavior, including inciting minors to drunkenness, the spread of immorality or the encouragement of prostitution, in accordance with Articles 502 and 282 of the Penal Code, which criminalize incitement to drunkenness, drug use or the promotion of immoral acts. The Code provides in its Article 497 for a prison sentence and a fine against anyone who incites minors under the age of eighteen to prostitution, encourages them or facilitates their access to it.

During his performance in front of dozens of minors, the singer performed songs inciting the consumption of alcohol and debauchery, and elicited the interaction of dozens of children repeating lyrics such as: "a kiss, a hug, a fall into the sea... I drink my glass, I get drunk and I forget." Enough to shock Moroccan Internet users. They point to the role of the officials of the Bir Chifa neighborhood in granting authorizations for this type of gathering, as well as that of the parents in monitoring the activities of their children. They called on the authorities to take measures against the promoters of practices threatening the values of Moroccan society and harming the younger generation.

What happened in Tangier "is not simply a singer taking the stage, what happened is much more serious. It was neither a taste error nor an isolated slip, but a glaring symptom of a loss of bearings: lyrics saturated with degrading insinuations, performed in front of an audience mostly composed of children, as if this generation deserved only the depths," reacted an activist interviewed by al3omk. He evokes the impact of the songs on the children. "Scientifically, when a child hears these lyrics, he records them, gets used to them and reproduces them, they become part of his nascent consciousness, his language, his behaviors and his vision of the world..."

The activist also points to the responsibility of the State. He explained that the Constitution in its Articles 32 and 33 assigns the State the responsibility of the legal and moral protection of children and that Article 483 of the Penal Code criminalizes public indecency, especially in the presence of minors. He also recalled that Morocco has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which obliges States to protect children from anything that could harm their psychological and moral development or lead to an early alteration of their consciousness and perception of the world.

He also wishes that Morocco follow the example of Germany which, in 2019, took measures against the organizers of a concert. That year, during an outdoor festival attended by children, the group Rammstein performed a song containing insinuations about drugs. "The show was immediately interrupted by the organizers, the municipality fined the organizing company and new guidelines were issued prohibiting the dissemination of inappropriate content at family events," he said.