French rapper MHD gets 12 years in prison for youth’s murder

French rapper MHD was sentenced Saturday to 12 years in prison for the 2018 murder of a young man in Paris who was rammed with a car before being set upon by a mob and stabbed.

Published: 24 September 2023 12:18 CEST

French rapper MHD gets 12 years in prison for youth's murder

French rapper Mohamed Sylla, aka MHD, arrives for the opening of his trial at the Palais de Justice courthouse in Paris, on September 4, 2023. Photo: ALAIN JOCARD/AFP.

Five of his fellow defendants were also jailed over the killing, receiving jail terms of between 10 and 18 years, over what prosecutors said was a fight between rival gangs. Three other men were acquitted.

The pioneer of afro-trap — a mix of hip-hop and African traditions — MHD rose to fame after becoming a viral sensation in 2015. The 29-year-old, whose real name is Mohamed Sylla, was charged with homicide in January 2019 and imprisoned.

He was released after a year and a half in custody as investigations continued, and released a new album.

As Saturday’s verdict was handed down, several women in the public gallery burst into tears. MHD hugged one of them, maintaining his composure.

Those convicted — who all pleaded not guilty — have 10 days to appeal.

During his final statement to the court before it retired to render the verdict after three weeks of proceedings, he had again proclaimed his
innocence.

“From the beginning, I have maintained my innocence in this case and I will continue to maintain my innocence,” he told the packed court.

The prosecutor had asked for an 18-year prison sentence for the rapper, acquittals for two of the accused, and jail sentences of 13-20 years for the others.

On the night of July 5, 2018, 23-year-old Loic K was rammed by a black Mercedes and then beaten up and stabbed by around a dozen people in a gritty part of the capital’s 10th arrondissement.

Although the rapper denied having been at the scene, a local resident filmed the incident from his window, and the Mercedes was quickly identified as belonging to MHD.

Other witnesses identified him by his haircut or a sweatshirt by Puma — for which he was a brand ambassador — according to investigative reports seen by AFP.

The car was found abandoned and burned out in a car park a day after the killing.

“A judicial truth emerged despite the law of silence,” said Juliette Chapelle, lawyer for the victim’s family.

The killing happened in the Cite des Chaufourniers, a low-income estate in the area that the former pizza delivery driver continued to frequent despite his fame.

The football-mad performer, who was born in France to Guinean and Senegalese parents, is best known for “Afro Trap Part 3 (Champions League)”, a song in praise of the Paris Saint-Germain football club.

He had made waves abroad, drawing admiration from global stars such as Drake and Madonna.

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The French Jewish community, the third largest in the world, has for months been on edge in the face of a growing number of attacks and desecrations of memorials.

“National police in Rouen neutralised early this morning an armed individual who clearly wanted to set fire to the city’s synagogue,” Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Police responded at 6.45 am to reports of “fire near the synagogue”, a police source said.

A source close to the case told AFP the man “was armed with a knife and an iron bar, he approached police, who fired. The individual died”.

“It is not only the Jewish community that is affected. It is the entire city of Rouen that is bruised and in shock,” Rouen Mayor Nicolas Mayer-Rossignol wrote on X.

He made clear there were no other victims other than the attacker.

Two separate investigations have been opened, one into the fire at the synagogue and another into the circumstances of the death of the individual killed by the police, Rouen prosecutors said.

Such an investigation by France’s police inspectorate general is automatic whenever an individual is killed by the police.

The man threatened a police officer with a knife and the latter used his service weapon, said the Rouen prosecutor.

The dead man was not immediately identified, a police source said.

Asked by AFP, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office said that it is currently assessing whether it will take up the case.

France has the largest Jewish community of any country after Israel and the United States, as well as Europe’s largest Muslim community.

There have been tensions in France in the wake of the October 7th attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas on Israel, followed by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Red hand graffiti was painted onto France’s Holocaust Memorial earlier this week, prompted anger including from President Emmanuel Macron who condemned “odious anti-Semitism”.

“Attempting to burn a synagogue is an attempt to intimidate all Jews. Once again, there is an attempt to impose a climate of terror on the Jews of our country. Combating anti-Semitism means defending the Republic,” Yonathan Arfi, the president of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF). wrote on X.

France was hit from 2015 by a spate of Islamist attacks that also hit Jewish targets. There have been isolated attacks in recent months and France’s security alert remains at its highest level.