National police in Casablanca took Moroccan singer Dounia Batma into custody on Wednesday to serve a one-year sentence at Loudaya prison in Marrakech after losing an appeal of her conviction of a number of crimes involving fraud, blackmail, and extortion. The arrest was captured on videos that circulated widely on social media.
Batma had initially been accused of blackmailing public figures and influencers in the “Hamza mon BB” case, including Moroccan singer Saïda Charaf, among other charges, and was tried and convicted in the court of first instance in 2020.
Initially sentenced to eight months in prison in 2020, her sentence was increased on appeal in 2021 to one year.
In late December 2023, the Court of Cassation rejected Batma’s second appeal and upheld the initial verdict, sentencing her to one year in prison and a fine of 10,000 MAD.
The appellate court also ordered damages to be paid to Charaf, who had accused Batma of defamation in the same case.
Batma recently appealed to King Mohammed VI for a pardon during a live broadcast.
The charges against her included participating in fraudulent access to a computer system and disseminating unauthorized images and statements to harm or defame others.
Other individuals, including Batma’s sister Ibtissam Batma, journalist Simo Dahir, YouTuber Soukaina Glamour, and car rental agency owner Adnane Saken, were convicted of being involved in the crimes, and all served their respective sentences.
“Hamza mon bb”, was an Instagram and Snapchat account created in 2016 and closed in 2019 that had millions of followers and specialized in settling scores and blackmailing numerous Moroccan celebrities, using compromising information, including images and videos, some of which were of a sexual nature.