Fez — Moroccan rapper Pause Flow has been sentenced to one year in prison following a complaint from his former wife over lyrics in his song “Cent Daz.”

The Sefrou Court of First Instance handed Jawad Asradi, known professionally as Pause Flow, a one-year custodial sentence on Wednesday, August 19.

The court also imposed a MAD 5,000 ($536) fine and ordered the rapper to pay MAD 50,000 ($5,630) in civil compensation to his former wife.

At the same time, judges acquitted Asradi of a separate charge of threatening his former wife. He was informed that he has 10 days to appeal the ruling.

The case centers on “Cent Daz,” a track released on June 29. 

According to reports on the case, the track discusses parts of Asradi’s relationship with his former wife and contains language she alleged amounted to insults, defamation, and an invasion of her private life.

Complaint over ‘Cent Daz’ led to arrest

Police arrested Pause Flow in Imouzzer Kandar on August 10 after his former wife filed the complaint.

Prosecutors subsequently pursued him on allegations involving the dissemination of false claims and facts intended to infringe on private life and damage reputation. He was also prosecuted for public insult and defamation against a woman because of her gender, as well as the threat charge from which he was ultimately acquitted.

The latest ruling places Pause Flow back at the center of a legal controversy only months after another case involving his music.

In December 2025, the same Sefrou court sentenced him to three months in prison, suspended, and fined him MAD 2,000 ($214) over lyrics prosecutors considered insulting to public institutions and officials.

The Fez Court of Appeal upheld that earlier sentence in June 2026.

Asradi had been arrested in November 2025 and spent more than a month in detention while that case proceeded. His prosecution sparked debate among Moroccan artists and rights advocates about the boundaries between rap, criticism, and legally punishable speech.

The new case is separate from those earlier proceedings. Rather than lyrics targeting public institutions, it stems from a complaint by a private individual who said a song exposed and defamed her.