Moha La Squale Sentenced to Four Years in Prison
Rapper Moha La Squale, whose real name is Mohamed Bellahmed, was sentenced to four years in prison, including one year suspended, by the Paris Criminal Court. The 29-year-old artist faced charges of violence, repeated death threats, and kidnapping against six former companions between January 2017 and November 2021. As part of his sentence, he is required to undergo psychological and addiction treatment and is prohibited from contacting his victims.
Throughout the trial, which began on Tuesday, the complainants testified about the abuse they endured. The prosecutor detailed a pattern of psychological and physical violence, including insults, humiliating remarks, slapping, hair pulling, strangling, and suffocation with a pillow. One victim recounted an incident before a media shoot in 2018 where Bellahmed strangled her and attempted to suffocate her with a pillow. Another described being beaten, pulled by the hair, and locked in the trunk of his car.
A Pattern of Abuse and Denial
The testimonies painted a picture of a man described as 'cyclothymic,' 'impulsive,' 'immature,' 'capricious,' and 'angry,' with a 'paranoid and jealous' disposition. The prosecutor requested a six-year sentence, including two years suspended, highlighting Bellahmed's lack of remorse and potential risk of recurrence. The court heard how Bellahmed would 'coax' his victims before subjecting them to psychological and physical abuse. Three of the six women were also kidnapped, with their phones confiscated to prevent them from seeking help.
Despite apologizing during his final speech, Moha La Squale denied the accusations, claiming to be the victim of a conspiracy by women seeking to exploit his fame and wealth. His lawyer argued that his rise to fame had attracted both positive and negative attention, suggesting that the complaints were motivated by his celebrity status. The rapper's past includes convictions for violence, aggravated theft, fraud, kidnapping, and death threats. He gained fame in 2017 through videos posted on Facebook and achieved significant success with his platinum record album 'Bendero' in 2019.
- The trial highlighted the dual nature of Moha La Squale's personality, as described by the victims. They depicted him as having a 'double face,' being 'gentle, kind, affectionate,' but capable of becoming 'jealous, angry, capricious, impulsive, violent, and paranoid' in an instant.
- The prosecutor emphasized the 'total absence of questioning' from Bellahmed, who consistently claimed that his accusers were lying and that he was the target of a plot. This stance did not reassure the court regarding the risk of future offenses.
- The civil parties' lawyers, Sarah Beaucamp and Pierre-Eugène Burghardt, stated that the severity of the requested sentence reflected the continuous violence and acts of sequestration inflicted on the victims over the years. The trial concluded with a final statement from Bellahmed, who continued to deny any physical violence while expressing regret for causing emotional harm.
