The judicial police heard on Sunday in Rabat Malika Mezzane and decided to put her in custody before being brought before the King’s prosecutor.
The Amazigh poet and activist published last week a video on her Facebook account through which she threatened to decapitate and kill Arabs who rejected the independence of Amazighs from Kurdistan province in Iraq. According to Kifach, an online newspaper owned by Med Radio, several Amazigh activists confirmed the arrest of Malika Mezzane and the decision taken by the judicial police to place her in police custody.
The video published by the Amazigh poet, was deleted by Facebook after having been reported numerously. It was then published on Youtube, where it was widely reported by Internet users who considered it as a direct incitement to murder.
«Amazighs are ready to ally with Israel and the devil», says Malika Mezzane. «All indigenous people must expel Arabs from North Africa, Egypt and Iraq», she insisted. She threatened to kill Arabs while criticizing those who rejected the creation of Kurdistan state. «We, Amazighs, will massacre Arabs in North Africa, we will defeat them. So choose, idiots», she added. On Youtube, the video was watched by 100,000 people in a short amount of time.
A second video to explain the first one
After her video was deleted on Facebook and the negative responses she received on social media, Malika Mezzane filmed a second video to explain herself. She said that «people in the region are not intelligent enough» to understand what they hear and read. She said she wanted to show her absolute solidarity with the Kurds, «victims of hatred and racism» through her controversial video. She added that she was driven by anger and that she was not addressing all Arabs but only those she considers racist.
The poet and activist Malika Mezzane, has always been known for creating controversy. In 2014, she said in an interview that «like any other nation, Jews have the right to a homeland». During the same year, she went so far accusing Ahmed Assid, an Amazigh intellectual and human rights activist of «harassing her and wanting to destroy her marriage».
The Iraqi province of Kurdistan has enjoyed wide autonomy since 1991. Its inhabitants are set to hold a referendum for full and complete independence of the Iraqi administration, which the authorities in Baghdad refuse. On Monday, the Iraqi Supreme Court ordered the suspension of the independence referendum scheduled for the 25th of September in Iraqi Kurdistan. The Court also stated that it wished to examine the complaints it had received, saying that the consultation was unconstitutional, according to Le Monde.