The ‘Hamza mon bb’ blackmail affair is making national headlines once again.
Rabat – The investigating judge at the Marrakech Court of First Instance has decided to prosecute Moroccan singer Dounia Batma, who was released on bail in late December 2019, for her alleged involvement in the “Hamza mon bb” blackmail case.
The judge decided to prosecute Batma for crimes related to her alleged participation in fraudulently accessing personal data, and for her involvement in disseminating people’s statements and pictures through data systems without their consent.
The charges include crimes of disseminating information with the intentional aim of undermining individuals’ privacy.
The judge dropped only one charge against the singer: Fraud.
Ibtissam Batma, Dounia’s sister who is now in custody pending trial, faces the same charges, although she was not charged with fraud, British news outlet Al Quds reported.
Police arrested both sisters in December 2019. After paying a bail of MAD 500,000 ($50,000) each, both secured their temporary release. Police confiscated both sisters’ passports.
After posting bail, security services once again arrested Ibtissam in March for her alleged further involvement in the case.
The judge will also prosecute Moroccan “influencer” Aicha Ayach on the same charges for her alleged involvement in the case.
The UAE handed Ayach, who was on the run in the Emirates, to Moroccan police in February.
The Hamza Mon Bb case has made international headlines over the last few years. Media reported particularly heavily on Batma’s alleged involvement last year.
Hamza mon bb references an infamous social media account linked to blackmail cases in Morocco. The account, active since 2016, shares indecent photos, videos, and content to undermine the privacy of celebrities and others in Morocco.
Both sisters denied the accusations, but other suspects arrested in the case accused them of direct links to the crimes.
Soukaina Jannah, a Moroccan Instagram “influencer” who also faced accusations, claimed the sisters were directly involved in the case.
The head of the executive office of the National Center for Human Rights in Morocco, Mohamed El Madimi, who is also a victim of the criminal social media activity, believes that Dounia has a direct link with the Hamza mon bb affair.
“The enemies of Dounia are the ones who received threats, and all kinds of insults,” he said.
In February, the Court of First Instance in Marrakech sentenced three suspects, including Jannah, to two years in prison. The defendants also paid a fine of MAD 10,000 ($1,000) each.
