[ad_1]
Former Moroccan prisoners have left their prison cells to put themselves in the social media spotlight by sharing their thug life experiences on YouTube, making them underage celebrities.
“You had to be a real asset to sell drugs in prison like me,” boasts Mohamed Moustadraf, 48, one of the many former inmates who became online storytellers.
A former drug dealer with tattooed arms, a ponytail, tracksuit and a big gold watch, he spent 23 years behind bars.
He is one of the 20 or so former YouTubers currently active in the North African country, many of whom have garnered millions of views.
They regale their audiences with tales of vicious inmate rivalries and vendettas against the guards or vent on mistreatment and overcrowding, quelling warnings against the perils of a life of crime.
“In prison and outside, I made a lot of money,” said Moustadraf, a father of three who is also called Slaoui.
“But I was missing one thing: my freedom. Today, I try to enjoy it and share my experience with others, especially young people.”
Like other jailbird influencers, he insists his goal isn’t to glorify his criminal record.
Slaoui says he was encouraged to go to YouTube by a group of rapper friends, including musician Gnawi who was sentenced to one year in prison for insulting a police officer live on Instagram.
‘Like therapy’
Another former prisoner, Ilyas Korrari, who is also a hit on YouTube, said opening up to his thousands of subscribers was “like therapy” and a form of catharsis for his past.
“Before people avoid me, look at me strangely, or worse, they’re afraid of me,” he said.
“I had so much hate and revenge in me because society is ruthless with people who make mistakes, but the camera healed me,” said Korrari, also a former drug dealer, wearing a T-shirt. tight, slicked back hair and a neat beard.
Korrari, who spent 17 of his 38 years in prison, said he decided to “radically change” his life when he was last released in 2018.
He has since posted videos of his time behind bars, and his YouTube channel now has more than 240,000 subscribers and has attracted more than 21 million views.
Last year he set up a small audiovisual production company in Kenitra, north of the capital Rabat, although he insists that the benefits of his success have been “modest”.
The prison-themed channels have built up a minor cult.
“I was first interested in these ex-convicts because they created a buzz, their videos have millions of views, it’s very convincing!” said a fan, a Casablanca man in his thirties.
“They tell their stories and denounce injustices in prison. The only thing that bothers me is this heroic posture, even the trivialization of crime, that some of them adopt.”
Moustadraf said he launched his channel in 2019 to “change the way people look” at ex-prisoners.
“Just because we have been in prison does not mean that we have neither faith nor law.”
He said he “turned the page on illegality” in 2016, and that his appearances since have garnered 13 million views.
Filling the official media vacuum
Moustadraf often speaks of overcrowding in prisons and corrupt guards, and sounds the alarm bells on rights violations and “suspicious” deaths in custody.
To survive, he said, waving his heavily inked arms, “you have to climb the ranks, be patient, endure torture and injustice.”
A spokesperson for the prison administration contacted by AFP warned against “these YouTube channels … (and) the lies they tell”.
She stressed that all complaints from families of prisoners are examined “with great attention”.
But accounts from former detainees agree with official reports of overcrowding and frequent ill-treatment in Moroccan prisons.
With a national prison population of more than 86,000 inhabitants in 2019, the occupancy rate exceeds 250% of the official capacity in some detention centers, indicates the Non-Governmental Observatory of Prisons.
Mohamed Bentazout, a murder convict released in 2020 after 20 years in prison, said “the accounts of former detainees fill the void left by the official media”.
The 57-year-old former boxer still insists he is innocent and working to have his case examined, using YouTube clips to reach “large audiences in Morocco and around the world”.
To denounce the “flagrant injustice” he says he has suffered, he now lives in a tiny cell he built on the terrace of his family home.
The model cell is decorated with Moroccan flags, portraits of King Mohammed VI, certificates won in prisons and medals from his boxing days.
Bentazout swears he won’t leave until his name is cleared.
AFP
Source link
