Sunday, April 01, 2007

There aren't enough jails in Hollywood...

Singer convicted of adultery jailed

A Moroccan singer who is a member of an influential Islamist organisation has been sentenced to a month in prison for adultery, a legal source said yesterday.The term was handed down to Rachid Moutchou, also known as Gholam Nakib Chouaba, as well as female defendant, Asmaa Rkik, overnight after the case came to court on Friday in the western town of El Jadida.The two, who must also pay a fine of 1,000 dirhams each, have the right to appeal within 10 days.

Police say he was caught in the act. He claims it was a set up to discredit the Islamist organization he belongs to. Oh, and he claims he was tortured. I guess he's lucky he's still alive. About that Islamist group?
Moutchou began his career in upmarket Casablanca bars at the age of 13, before moving to religious songs after joining Al Adl Wal Ihssane, the Islamist association led by Sheikh Abdessalam Yassine. Al Adl Wal Ihssane, meaning justice and charity, is considered by the press as the most influential Islamist group in Morocco.

About Al Adl Wal Ihssane (it's from wikipedia so take it with a grain of salt:
Al Adl wal Ihsane (in French Justice et Bienfaisance) is a Moroccan Islamist association, founded by Cheikh Abdesslam Yassine (not to be confused with the former head of Palestinian Hamas). Yassine acts as a charismatic leader for the organisation, which attributes him near saintly-status and operates on lines similar to those a Moroccan Sufi brotherhood (Zaouia boutchichia), of which Yassine was a member prior to his politicisation. This association is not legal but is tolerated by the Moroccan authorities.

The party advocates the transformation of Morocco into an Islamist state, ruled by its interpretation of the Shariah. Like the Muslim Brotherhood, it works for the Islamisation of the whole society, through its grassroots social welfare organisations and important presence in universities.

The association is entirely centred around the personality of Abdesslam Yassine and practice a kind of Cult of personality; some members perceive Abdesslam Yassine as a new prophet, or at least as his messenger. Abdeslam Yassine likes to talk about his dreams; members of the association like to interpret them under a very favourable light for the leader.

Through the year 2005, the association reportedly developed the idea of a qawma, a revolution, for 2006, after a series of dreams done by Cheikh Yassine and association members. Many Adlists think these dreams refer to the immediate abolition of the monarchy in Morocco and the instauration of a Caliphate. Indeed, in spring 2005, Yassine's daughter, Nadia Yassine the daughter of Abdesslam Yassine, who heads the feminist branch of the organisation, said in an interview to the Moroccan newspaper Al Ousbouiya Al Jadida that she believed that Monarchy is not appropriate for Morocco. Yassine and two journalists from the newspaper are facing charges for defamation of the monarchy relating to the remarks, although her trial has twice been postponed. Publicly, the group has denied any revolutionary plans, arguing rather that Moroccan stability is at serious risk not from it but due to persistently high levels of unemployment and poverty
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