Uban on keeping animals for five years and a fine of 6,000 euros: this is the sanction to which rapper Timal was sentenced on Thursday 1er September, by the court of Meaux, for “acts of cruelty towards a domestic animal”. Ruben Louis – his real name – was indeed sentenced late in the evening to a sentence of 120 day-fines at 50 euros, for a total of 6,000 euros. If he did not pay this amount, he would face 120 days in prison. The verdict comes two days after the broadcast of a video in which we see the rapper hitting his dog.
This sentence was previously proposed by the public prosecutor and accepted by the rapper as part of an appearance on prior recognition of guilt (CRPC), a kind of French-style “plead-guilty” which allows certain offenses to be judged more quickly, provided that the respondent acknowledges the facts.
The 25-year-old artist was arrested and placed in police custody on Wednesday in Champs-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne) in the Paris suburbs, where he resides.
The day before, he had posted a video on the social network Snapchat in which he films himself kicking one of his two dogs in the head. “Asshole goes”, could we read in legend. The mastiffs were seized and entrusted to an animal protection association.
“It is a sentence adapted to the situation since Timal has recognized the facts and above all expressed extremely sincere regrets. The video is not at all representative of the way he has always treated his animals,” Ms.e Elise Arfi, his lawyer.
A sanction not dissuasive enough?
“The gap is widening between an ultra-sensitized public opinion which no longer accepts attacks on animals and the penalties imposed which are well below the maximum penalties (…) absolutely not dissuasive”, reacted for his part Me Caroline Lanty, lawyer for the 30 Million Friends Foundation, who had filed a complaint.
This case echoes that of Kurt Zouma, a French international defender sentenced in June by British justice to 180 hours of community service for having mistreated his cat, after the broadcast of a video that went viral.
Timal gained some notoriety in February with the single “Filtered”, alongside rapper Gazo. The song now has more than 52 million plays on Spotify, the world’s leading music platform, and almost as many views on YouTube.
At the end of August, he released, with rap heavyweight Booba, a new single called “Chameleon”. “You screwed up on this one but you will prove to them that you are not bad”, Booba tweeted Thursday, addressing the young rapper, calling his gesture “unacceptable but not unforgivable”.
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