Moroccan authorities apprehended rapper «Mehdi Black Wind» earlier this week, and he is currently being held at a detention facility in Casablanca. A public appeal advocating for his «immediate» release has since been circulated.
Is this detention politically motivated? On Wednesday, the Moroccan public prosecutor referred rapper El Mahdi Lyoubi, widely recognized by his stage name «Mehdi Black Wind», for immediate appearance before a court. El Mahdi Lyoubi, 34, was issued a travel ban last Friday at Rabat airport, preventing him from boarding a flight to France, where he has resided for nearly a decade, according to his support committee.
He received a summons from the judicial police in Casablanca on Monday, after which he was taken into custody. The central question remains: what led to the artist’s arrest?
detained for his outspoken views?
While Moroccan authorities have not yet officially disclosed the specific charges, the rapper’s detention is widely believed to be connected to his political stances. This theory is strongly put forward by those who authored the open letter demanding El Mahdi Lyoubi’s freedom. Indeed, the rapper and filmmaker is renowned within independent artistic circles for his lyrical critiques of Moroccan society and its inherent inequalities, a factor that many suspect is behind his recent arrest.
«Based on the information available at this stage, his arrest appears linked to his artistic positions and social media publications,» states the published appeal, which calls for his «immediate liberation.»
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Over 700 cultural figures, including Moroccan filmmaker Faouzi Bensaidi and French actresses Adèle Haenel and Aïssa Maïga, co-signed a statement on Wednesday condemning his detention and demanding his release. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) also issued a communiqué on Tuesday, calling for his freedom and an end to policies aimed at stifling critical voices.
The artist appeared before a judge at the Casablanca Court of First Instance on Wednesday. The hearing was adjourned until July 22 to allow him to prepare his defense, a necessity given that lawyers in Morocco have been on strike for the past month, according to a source familiar with the case.