Moroccan rapper on trial amid growing rage at powers-that-be

Moroccan rapper Gnawi is going on trial accused of insulting police. But his supporters see the case as a crackdown against a recent video by him and two friends that expose Morocco’s problems with migration and drugs.

The song also criticizes the king, which is a crime.

Gnawi, a former military serviceman whose real name is Mohamed Mounir, goes on trial Monday in a case that his supporters see as a backlash against expressions of growing public anger at authorities and lack of economic opportunity.

Moroccan authorities say the arrest was prompted by an earlier video in which Gnawi insults the police, which is a crime punishable with up to two years in prison.