Rabat – Moroccan rapper ElGrande Toto was given an eight-month suspended sentence at the Moroccan Court of First Instance in Casablanca on Wednesday.
The rapper was also sentenced to pay a fine of MAD 10,000 ($984 approximately).
The Casablanca-born singer sparked controversy last year for his statements on the recreational use of marijuana.
In September 2022, he told reporters in a press conference ahead of a music concert that he smokes cannabis.
“I smoke Hash, so what?” he said, emphasizing that this does not make him a “bad example.”
Police arrested the rapper on October 24 of last year after receiving several complaints against him for publicly promoting the recreational use of cannabis.
Other charges the rapper faced included his alleged involvement in “insults, defamation, and threats” against a journalist, a musician, and a policeman.
The rapper was released on bail two days after his arrest.
Following the backlash, the Moroccan government rebuked El Grande Toto’s statement on the use of cannabis, describing it as “unacceptable.”
The government “rejects such behavior and considers it to be unacceptable,” spokesperson of the Moroccan government Mustapha Baitas said last year at a press conference in the wake of the rapper’s controversial comments.
The government “cannot, in any way, accept or normalize” such a behavior, Baitas said, adding that it will take all necessary measures to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.”
