"Updated : This post was written before the incident of the fish seller rocks Morocco for real"
For four days now , Moroccan and Arab social media universe have nothing to speak about Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarrad and his case in Paris in the worst way ever.
On Wednesday , the French authorities arrested 31-years-old Lamjarrad in Paris for an alleged sexual assault.
Yes, the Moroccan star was arrested for an alleged sexual assault of a French girl.
He is currently detained as far as I understand from the news reports coming from Paris till Tuesday.
This is not the first time Lamjarrad is facing those charges.
In 2010, he faced similar charges in the United States as he was accused of beating and raping a woman in New York.
He left the States after paying a bail and never came back.
In May 2016 , the case was reopened.
The Pepsi Arabia face is denying all those allegations whether the NY incident or Paris incident.
Saad Lamjarrad hit regional fame when his song "LM3ALLEM" became the most viewed Arabic song on YouTube with more than 400 million views. "do not ask me why"
Anyhow , personally I believe in " innocent until proven guilty" and I deal with the matter with extra cautious because we are speaking about sexual assaults and rape charges here twice with very disturbing details in the French newspapers.
Yet,I am more than shocked to see how "the innocent until proven guilty" is taken out of context in Morocco and across the Arab world.
Actually, the whole matter turned into a big circus.
We are seeing a Regional Nationalist support for his innocence that reached to an official level in Morocco that is close to the Royal Palace itself.
Update : On Monday , it was announced that King Mohamed IV appointed a lawyer to defend Lamjarrad paying his expenses.
Already , Saad Lamjarrad was honored by King Mohamed IV in August 2015.
There is a huge nationalistic mobilization in Morocco for him already.
Almost all Moroccan stars and singers declared their full solidarity with Lamjarrad.
Several Arab singers declared their support as well heading to Paris to support the popular Moroccan star vowing that he is innocent.
His fans in Morocco and Arab world launched since day one very provoking hashtags in Arabic like #We_Are_Saad_Lamjarrad "Yes , just like we are Khaled Said !!" , #Freedom_For_Saad_Lamjarrad and #Saad_Lamjarrad_is_a_victim , in English like #Freedom_For_Saad and #WeareallSaadlamjarrad and in French "#Je_suis_saad_lamjarrad"
You find posts like "We are going to defend and support our country's boy Saad" ...etc.
Needless to say , there is a disgusting victim shaming in the Moroccan social media when it comes to the accusers whether in France or in the United States as French girls and American girls are being smeared !!
You know this incident comes in a very critical time when it comes to celebs and sexual violence worldwide.
It also reached to the level of disgusting conspiracy theory that Lamjarrad's lawyer accuses Algeria , which is Morocco's nemesis of standing behind what happened to his client because he is a Moroccan icon.
Misogynism , ultra-nationalism and racism are widely expressed in those hashtags
It is just madness. I do not know how this case will end but whether he is guilty or innocent for real , this case shows the tip of ice-berg.
At the same moment , you see this blog post you must know there are protests currently in several Moroccan cities in solidarity with the death of poor fish vendor Mohsen tragically in garbage compactor because of police on Friday.
Now #We_are_all_Mohsen "the name of the poor fish vendor"in Arabic is trending as well as "#Crush_his_mother".
#Crush_his_mother are allegedly the order the policeman gave to the garbage compactor driver when Mohsen jumped into the vehicle to save his fish !!
I think the case of Mohsen is much important that Lamjarrad for real.
For four days now , Moroccan and Arab social media universe have nothing to speak about Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarrad and his case in Paris in the worst way ever.
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| Saad Lamjarrad |
On Wednesday , the French authorities arrested 31-years-old Lamjarrad in Paris for an alleged sexual assault.
Yes, the Moroccan star was arrested for an alleged sexual assault of a French girl.
He is currently detained as far as I understand from the news reports coming from Paris till Tuesday.
This is not the first time Lamjarrad is facing those charges.
In 2010, he faced similar charges in the United States as he was accused of beating and raping a woman in New York.
He left the States after paying a bail and never came back.
In May 2016 , the case was reopened.
The Pepsi Arabia face is denying all those allegations whether the NY incident or Paris incident.
Saad Lamjarrad hit regional fame when his song "LM3ALLEM" became the most viewed Arabic song on YouTube with more than 400 million views. "do not ask me why"
Anyhow , personally I believe in " innocent until proven guilty" and I deal with the matter with extra cautious because we are speaking about sexual assaults and rape charges here twice with very disturbing details in the French newspapers.
Yet,I am more than shocked to see how "the innocent until proven guilty" is taken out of context in Morocco and across the Arab world.
Actually, the whole matter turned into a big circus.
We are seeing a Regional Nationalist support for his innocence that reached to an official level in Morocco that is close to the Royal Palace itself.
Update : On Monday , it was announced that King Mohamed IV appointed a lawyer to defend Lamjarrad paying his expenses.
Already , Saad Lamjarrad was honored by King Mohamed IV in August 2015.
There is a huge nationalistic mobilization in Morocco for him already.
Almost all Moroccan stars and singers declared their full solidarity with Lamjarrad.
Several Arab singers declared their support as well heading to Paris to support the popular Moroccan star vowing that he is innocent.
His fans in Morocco and Arab world launched since day one very provoking hashtags in Arabic like #We_Are_Saad_Lamjarrad "Yes , just like we are Khaled Said !!" , #Freedom_For_Saad_Lamjarrad and #Saad_Lamjarrad_is_a_victim , in English like #Freedom_For_Saad and #WeareallSaadlamjarrad and in French "#Je_suis_saad_lamjarrad"
You find posts like "We are going to defend and support our country's boy Saad" ...etc.
 |
| We are all with our country's son Saad Lamjarrad |
Needless to say , there is a disgusting victim shaming in the Moroccan social media when it comes to the accusers whether in France or in the United States as French girls and American girls are being smeared !!
You know this incident comes in a very critical time when it comes to celebs and sexual violence worldwide.
It also reached to the level of disgusting conspiracy theory that Lamjarrad's lawyer accuses Algeria , which is Morocco's nemesis of standing behind what happened to his client because he is a Moroccan icon.
Misogynism , ultra-nationalism and racism are widely expressed in those hashtags
It is just madness. I do not know how this case will end but whether he is guilty or innocent for real , this case shows the tip of ice-berg.
At the same moment , you see this blog post you must know there are protests currently in several Moroccan cities in solidarity with the death of poor fish vendor Mohsen tragically in garbage compactor because of police on Friday.
Now #We_are_all_Mohsen "the name of the poor fish vendor"in Arabic is trending as well as "#Crush_his_mother".
#Crush_his_mother are allegedly the order the policeman gave to the garbage compactor driver when Mohsen jumped into the vehicle to save his fish !!
I think the case of Mohsen is much important that Lamjarrad for real.
An accuser of repeated rape crime should defend himself in court based on merits, and not in Arab public opinion by flaming hysteria of discimination. His previous jumping of bail in US amounts to admission of guilt. He definetely can afford the airfare and lawyer fees to go back to NY and defend his name.
ReplyDeleteA conviction of Lamjarrad in France after this campaign will hurt those who may actually be subject to Arab-male stero-typing and discrimination.
Totally agree.
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