Moroccan rapper L'Haqed (El Haqed/al-Haqed): two day hunger strike

Huffington Post Algérie reports that the rapper L'Haqed went launched a two day hunger strike on August 13, to protest against the humiliating treatment he is receiving in prison.

L'Haqed was sentenced to four months in prison on July 1, for "violence" against police and drunkenness. Completely bogus, trumped-up charges, as he has been the constant target of Moroccan authorities for the last two plus years due to his consistent, outspoken criticism of the regime.

Among L'Haqed's complaints about his treatment in prison: he has been unable to get the writing that he does out of prison, newspapers he receives are torn, he is not allowed to receive the music that he likes, and he is subject to humiliating body searches.

Update, August 23, 2014.

More on L'Haqed's conviction:

"Moroccan Dissident Rapper Sentenced," Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)
"Morocco jails dissident rapper El-Haqed," Massoud Hayoun, AlJazeera America, July 1, 2014.

The Washington Post used to have a link up, under the title "Morocco rapper rebel gets 4 months in prison," but it has mysteriously vanished.

Moroccan Rapper Al Haqed (El Haqed/L7a9ed) Arrested Again

Yesterday, May 18, the Moroccan rapper Al Haqed (Mouad Belghouat) and a group of his friends approached by police while about to enter the Casablanca soccer stadium to see a match. The cops targeted Al Haqed, accused him of buying tickets on the black market, and proceeded to beat up him and his brother.

According to the blog of Zineb Belmkaddem, the source for this information, the day before Al Haqed put up a post on Facebook "mocking the fact that the King was going to perform Friday’s Jumuah prayer, and on his way there, a traditional music group was playing. In Islam, this would be highly disrespectful given the spiritual solemnity of Jumuah prayer, and an even bigger mistake to be made by the ‘Commander of the Faithful’ who claims part of the legitimacy of his rule from his religious status." 

Who knows whether the arrest is linked to the post, but it no doubt has everything to do with the fact that Al Haqed refuses to shut up about the repressive acts of the Moroccan government, the makhzen.

Al Haqed was supposed to appear before a judge today.

I've posted about Al Haqed and his problems with the Moroccan authorities a few times in the past. And I've also ranted about the fact that Pussy Riot gets so much support and attention in the West, and especially from US artists, while almost no one seems to care about Al Haqed. Consider this another rant.

Videos of Al Haqed's most famous song "Klab al-dawla" or "The Dogs of the State" keep getting shut down. Here's another link to it.

More on Moroccan rapper al-Haqed

from Torie Rose DeGhett, writing in The Guardian on USA tax day. (I posted previously -- last night! -- on al-Haqed here.)

Abdelhak Senna/AFP/Getty Images

Read about the demo in support of al-Haqed on September 11, 2011, here.