Activists say Moroccan authorities are intensifying repression of essential voices and the Gen Z protest motion.
Revealed On 14 Jul 2026
Politically outspoken Moroccan artist, rapper, and filmmaker Mehdi El Youbi has been arrested in Casablanca, days after being barred from returning to France, the place he has been based mostly since 2017.
El Youbi, higher recognized by his stage title Mehdi Black Wind, was detained on Monday night time after being questioned by Morocco’s Nationwide Brigade of Judicial Police in Casablanca, in line with an announcement from a gaggle of his pals and supporters.
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“After a day of questioning, his household had been knowledgeable at round 9pm that he had been taken into police custody and was on account of seem earlier than the general public prosecutor on Wednesday”, the assertion stated. “In line with the newest info, his arrest is believed to be linked to his inventive views and posts on social media.”
El Youbi, born in 1992, is broadly recognized in Morocco and throughout North Africa for his rap songs closely influenced by US hip-hop. He rose to prominence within the early 2010s, similtaneously the Arab Spring, with songs that caught the eye of the authorities for his or her politically engaged lyrics.
“After I return dwelling, I’m afraid of being arrested or banned from the nation,” El Youbi told French music journal Mosaique Journal in December 2025. “Many individuals attempt to depoliticise artwork or sport, however I consider that each dedicated artist, each activist, or anybody who takes dangers lives between boldness and concern.”
El Youbi is “the very best rapper in North Africa and it’s not shut”, Algerian journalist Maher Mezahi stated on X.
![Mehdi El Youbi was arrested in Morocco, days after being barred from returning to Marseille, France, where he’s been based since 2017. [Courtesy of supporters of Mehdi El Youbi]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/photomehdi3-1784059195.jpeg?w=770&resize=770%2C770&quality=80)
Omar Radi, a Moroccan investigative journalist and human rights activist who was previously jailed in Morocco for criticising a judge, advised Al Jazeera that El Youbi is “essentially the most outspoken and politically direct Moroccan rapper”.
“There’s a deliberate try to stamp out any risk of criticism of the federal government or police strategies, whether or not inside civil society and the press, or in inventive circles or amongst soccer supporters,” Radi stated.
El Youbi’s detention comes a day after the arrest of Moroccan journalist Ali Lmrabet, which was condemned by the Committee to Defend Journalists, and two weeks after Zineb Kharroubi, a number one determine within the Gen Z 212 activist motion, was given a six-month suspended prison sentence after being discovered responsible of “incitement to commit crimes or offences by digital means”.
A supporter of El Youbi stated that these developments replicate “intensified repression linked to the Gen Z motion”, referring to the youth-led protest movement that emerged last year in Morocco demanding higher well being companies and training reforms.
El Youbi is because of seem earlier than the general public prosecutor on Wednesday morning. His supporters stated they had been involved that he might have to seem with out a lawyer, as attorneys in Morocco are presently on strike.
