At the end of three weeks of trial, the rapper MHD, whose real name is Mohamed Sylla, was sentenced to twelve years in prison by the Paris Assize Court.
Rising afro-trap star MHD, whose real name is Mohamed Sylla, was sentenced to twelve years in prison on Saturday September 23 by the Paris Assize Court. The rapper was accused of having killed a young man in Paris in 2018. He appeared with eight co-defendants for this murder which took place as part of a settling of scores between rival gangs. Five of them were also sentenced to 10 to 18 years in prison. The other three men were acquitted.
18 years in prison had been requested by the prosecution for Mohamed Sylla. The rapper once again proclaimed his innocence before the verdict was rendered. He now has ten days to appeal. According to Libération, the investigation establishes that the settling of scores takes place in the “historical rivalry” between the Grange-aux-Belles district in the 10th arrondissement and that of Chaufourniers in the 19th arrondissement.
On the night of July 5 to 6, 2018, a 23-year-old young man, Loïc K., was hit by a car, beaten and stabbed by a gang of around ten individuals, in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. The scene, filmed by a witness from a window, looks like a settling of scores between two rival gangs in the capital. MHD, who belonged to the gang from the 19th arrondissement which attacked the young man, was identified by at least three witnesses, according to the first elements of the investigation revealed at the time by Le Parisien.
The victim, Loïc Kamtchouang, suffered around thirty wounds or scratches, according to franceinfo; the fatal wound being located along his left thigh. Nicknamed “Pépé” by those around him, reports Libération, the 23-year-old Franco-Cameroonian was represented by his parents during the trial.
MHD, whose real name is Mohamed Sylla, was born on September 10, 1994 in La Roche-sur-Yon, in Vendée. In France, he became known in the early 2010s and quickly became one of the faces of afro trap, a mixture of African music and trap. In 2012, he started a group with friends from his neighborhood in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, before getting noticed with a rap freestyle in 2015. His first album, MHD, was released in 2016, his career was launched. The album was a success and was certified double platinum. The public and the media are unanimous.
In 2018, MHD released their second album, 19, which was also successful. On YouTube and on streaming platforms, views and plays are counted in the hundreds of millions. But his career, which he also wanted to put on hold, came to an abrupt end when he was incarcerated. MHD made his return to music in May 2021, ten months after his release from prison, with a single called AFRO TRAP Part.11 (King Kong).
