Starting this Tuesday, July 2, rapper Mohamed Bellahmed, known by his stage name “Moha La Squale,” must appear before the Paris Criminal Court to be tried for violence against six ex-partners. The verdict is expected next Friday, July 5.
While the accusations of sexual violence against Mohamed Bellahmed, aka Moha La Squale, were dismissed on May 22, the rapper must appear from Tuesday, July 2 until Friday, July 5 before the 14th chamber of the Paris Criminal Court to be tried for kidnapping, sequestration and domestic violence or sequestration committed against 6 women between 2017 and 2021.
The first facts date back to April 2017 in Paris. At the time, the rapper allegedly shook and pushed his first ex-girlfriend before snatching her phone. He then allegedly held her captive before voluntarily releasing her before the 7th day since her arrest. Moha La Squale allegedly physically interposed himself between his victim and the front door before threatening her with a weapon, even a fake one, placed on a piece of furniture.
Then, between January 2017 and November 2018, the rapper allegedly committed acts of violence that did not result in any total incapacity for work against his second partner in Paris and Spain. The latter was allegedly insulted and slapped. The rapper also allegedly spat on her. In this case, Mohamed Bellahmed is also accused of pulling his ex-partner’s hair and suffocating her with a cushion.
Regarding the third victim, she was allegedly attacked in Spain in August 2018. The rapper allegedly yelled at her, belittling her and insulting her “to the point of making her cry and creating a feeling of fear and intimidation towards her,” the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
Repeated violence
Less than two years later, in January 2020, Moha La Squale allegedly resumed threats against his 4th ex-partner. During a trip to Thailand, the victim was allegedly threatened with death several times.
This same victim is said to have suffered insults and violence in Paris and Spain until August 2020. In particular, she was allegedly held captive, deprived of her phone and prevented from leaving the premises by violence. The victim was also allegedly insulted, pushed, pulled by the hair, dragged on the ground, strangled and suffocated with a sheet and a pillow.
But Moha La Squale’s violence did not stop there since his 5th victim was also physically and verbally threatened on the night of June 17 to 18, 2020 in Paris. The latter was allegedly insulted and sequestered.
Like all the others, the latest victim was allegedly attacked and threatened with death in Paris, Béziers, Cannes, Marseille, Dubai and Zanzibar from February to November 2021. Moha La Squale allegedly hit her head against a window before kicking her in the stomach and ribs and punching her in the face. The rapper allegedly told her he was going to “plant her” while showing off a knife.
Following these repeated attacks, Moha La Squale, who has always denied these accusations, was the subject of a search warrant, having failed to appear at his first three summonses to the police station. He was arrested in Germany and taken into police custody on June 14, 2021.
Sexual assault charges dismissed
Two days later, on June 16, a judicial investigation was opened against him on charges of domestic violence without incapacity for work, sexual assault on a spouse, death threats against a spouse, sequestration followed by voluntary release before the 7th day and violence without incapacity for work by a person under the influence of narcotics, to the detriment of the 2nd and 4th victims. Mohamed Bellahmed was then indicted and placed under judicial supervision.
“After multiple failures to attend his judicial review appointments, appointments with the psychiatric expert, and his summonses before the investigating judge, he was finally re-heard on the facts on October 25, 2022,” the public prosecutor said.
As a result, during the order of March 14, 2024, the investigating judge decided to dismiss the charges of rape and sexual assault, due to “the absence of material evidence to support” this accusation.
The judge had found against Moha La Squale “characterized psychological violence against his companions”, sometimes accompanied by “physical acts” with “slaps, hair pulling, strangulation or even suffocation with a pillow”. A referral confirmed by the Paris Court of Appeal on May 22.
