CASABLANCA - In a packed courtroom, Mouad Belrhouat, 24, an anti-monarchist rapper who performs as El-Haqed was convicted of assault and sentenced to prison and a fine. On the surface, a banal enough affair. But for many observers the proceedings were more a trial and conviction of Moroccan justice - and, by extension of the country's new Constitution, which guarantees the independence of the judiciary. After the verdict was announced, Mr. Belrhouat’s supporters jumped on their seats in the Ain Sbaa courtroom, on the outskirts of Casablanca, shouting “long live the people.”
