Brahim Bouhlel, “scapegoat” in the fight against sex tourism in Morocco

To stay up to date on African news, subscribe to the “Monde Afrique” newsletter from this link. Every Saturday at 6 a.m., find a week of current events and debates treated by the editorial staff of World Africa.

Actors Brahim Bouhlel (left) and Saidou Camara, in Cannes, in October 2020.

This is the story of a joke so bad that it took its authors to jail. For five months, the French actor and humorist Brahim Bouhlel, known for having played in Valid, a successful rap series, is imprisoned in Marrakech after being sentenced to eight months in prison for “broadcasting a video of a person without his consent” and “hijacking a minor”.

A few weeks before the release of season 2 of Valid, on October 11 on Canal +, the affair continues to be debated in Morocco and France. “The prison sentence for a joke, however bad it is, represents a deeply frightening threat to the exercise of the freedom of expression of all”, denounces Andra Matei, the lawyer of the comedian, who plans to file a request for a royal pardon in October.

Read also French comedian Brahim Bouhlel sentenced to eight months in prison in Morocco

The case dates back to the very beginning of April. The 26-year-old actor, originally from Seine-et-Marne, is seated on the terrace of a restaurant in Marrakech with the influencer Sammy Tami, known under the pseudonym of “Zbarbooking”, and the actor Hedi Bouchenafa. Brahim Bouhlel films his two friends and doubles them with a voiceover.

“Me, what I like here is all the whores I pay 100 dirhams!” “, he says in the video as his friend waves a wad of cash. “I fucked fifteen more girls. So I had six kids, he continues, filming two boys and a little girl who are next to them. Hey you son of a bitch! Your mother is a fat slut! “, he said to the children, who didn’t seem to understand the situation.

“I was trying to be funny”

Presented as a parody of the show Exclusive inquiry, the video, first broadcast on a Snapchat account, quickly made the rounds on social networks and caused anger in Morocco.

Faced with the media storm, the actors apologized, explaining that their approach was humorous. “My wish was precisely to make fun of the people who convey these clichés”, justified Brahim Bouhlel in a video posted on April 5 on Instagram. “I was trying to be funny, but I admit I totally messed up. I deeply love this country and its inhabitants ”, he added.

Article reserved for our subscribers Read also In Tangier, the ghosts of the Beat generation

Placed in pre-trial detention the next day, the actor of Valid and influencer Sammy Tami were sentenced on April 21 to eight months and one year in prison, respectively. A decision confirmed on appeal on May 31. Hedi Bouchenafa had left Moroccan territory before the opening of the investigation. Since then, the defense has denounced deplorable conditions of detention, “To fifteen in a cell of 30 m2, and a judgment that did not take into account “The right to freedom of expression”.

“It was an unscripted, unplanned sketch that my clients had no intention of putting on the Internet. The video was leaked, but this was not taken into account by the judge ”, pleads Me Matei, also director of Avant-Garde Lawyers, an NGO which defends the freedom of expression of artists. “My clients wanted to emphasize the comedic aspect of an otherwise tragic and sometimes hard to articulate social reality, like sex tourism. Creating this shift is all the work of a comedian ”, adds the lawyer.

War on Omerta

In Morocco, the joke is particularly badly passed. Deemed insulting and degrading, the video aroused indignation from the Moroccan Lawyers Club, which lodged a complaint, as well as child protection associations. “We strongly condemned these abject and disrespectful remarks, which hurt a weak fringe and in the need that are these children, and we asked the authorities to take their responsibilities”, underlines Najat Anwar, president of the NGO Touche pas à mon enfant.

Since 2004, the latter has been waging a war against the omerta existing in Morocco on sex tourism and pedophilia, particularly developed in Marrakech, Tangier and Agadir. “Pedophile tourists continue to flock to these cities and exploit children from very poor families, because they think that with their euros, they can abuse our innocent children with impunity,” hammers the activist. But things started to change. “

Read also In Morocco, the arrest of a Frenchman accused of pedophilia provokes the anger of the inhabitants

In recent years, several scandals have forced the authorities to crack down under pressure from residents and associations, who denounce overly lenient sentences and urge the public authorities to strengthen the legislation and step up the fight.

In the summer of 2013, the royal pardon granted by mistake to a Spanish pedophile, Daniel Galvan, before being canceled by the palace, had mobilized thousands of people in demonstrations in Casablanca and Rabat. Five years later, the arrest in Fez of a Frenchman accused of sexually assaulting two Moroccan women aged 10 and 13 had also provoked the anger of the inhabitants, exasperated by the spread of sex tourism in Morocco and the impunity of foreigners.

“Tourist immunity”

“There is a gradual awareness of public opinion and state authorities. Families are also beginning to denounce this pedotourism and the judicial authorities are rife, indicates Najat Anwar. Before the 2000s, foreign pedophiles enjoyed a kind of tourist immunity that made our country one of their favorite destinations. “

But the defense of Brahim Bouhlel and Sammy Tami continues to denounce a disproportionate verdict. “Brahim and Sammy are the scapegoats of a system which seeks to set them up as examples not to be followed in the eyes of those who would think of imitating them”, warns Me Matei, recalling that the two men were ” on good terms “ with the children who appear on the video and “Generous with them by giving them money”.

The royal pardon request in October will be the fourth attempt in the case, after three refusals.

www.lemonde.fr

Leave a Comment