Two associations fighting against homophobia filed a complaint on Thursday against the rapper Kaaris, considering that one of his songs, released in 2013, but performed at the end of February in concert in Paris, amounted to provocation of public hatred, we learned on Friday AFP with their lawyer.
The rapper, aged 44, gave a concert on February 29 at the Accor Arena in Paris, where he celebrated the tenth anniversary of his album
Black Gold
.
This album marked a turning point in French-speaking rap, with a style labeled hardcore with lyrics irrigated by violence and excesses.
Kaaris, whose real name is Gnakouri Okou, notably performed his song
Zoo
, filmed and broadcast on social networks.
According
to
the
complaint
against
public violence against a group of people because of their sexual orientation and public incitement to hatred or violence against a group of people because of their sexual orientation.
“Kaaris comes from West Africa, where many countries penalize homosexuality and where sexual violence against LGBT people is common
,” Me Etienne Deshoulières, lawyer for the associations, told AFP.
“The insults and incitements to homophobic violence in his songs have real repercussions for the people concerned
,” he insisted.
The complaint was filed with the Paris prosecutor's office on Thursday, which must now analyze it to launch more in-depth investigations or close it.
Kaaris remains “perfectly serene”
“There is no homophobia in my client’s comments
,” his lawyer responded to AFP.
“I am very surprised that the complaint has been filed now, when the song was released in 2013
,” underlined Me Yassine Yakouti, assuring that Kaaris was
“perfectly calm in the face of these rants”
and was going to file a complaint for slanderous denunciation.
For Me Yakouti, the associations
“instrumentalize the fight against homophobia”
and use
“the notoriety of Kaaris”
to
“get people talking about them”
.
“The fight against homophobia is far too noble and important to be exploited in this way
,” he added.
The rapper has already had to deal with the law on several occasions.
He was recently acquitted by the Évry criminal court while he was being prosecuted for domestic violence of which his ex-partner accused him.
He had also already gone to court in the fall of 2018 for particularly high-profile incidents: a fight involving the rapper and his former mentor-star Booba, as well as their respective entourages in a Paris airport.
Result: 18 months suspended prison sentence for the two artists.