Rapper Timal was sentenced Thursday evening by the Meaux court to pay 6,000 euros for “acts of cruelty to a domestic animal”, two days after broadcasting a video in which he hits his dog, AFP learned from lawyers Parties. Ruben Louis, his real name, was sentenced late in the evening to a 120-day fine of 50 euros, for a total of 6,000 euros. If he did not pay this amount, he would face 120 days in prison.
A video of violence against his dog
He is also sentenced to a ban on keeping animals for five years. 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 sort 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 posted a video on the social network Snapchat in which he films himself kicking one of his two dogs in the head three times. “Asshole go”, could we read in caption. The mastiffs were seized and entrusted to an animal protection association. “It is a sentence appropriate to the situation since Timal has admitted the facts and above all expressed extremely sincere regrets. The video is not at all representative of the way in which he has always treated his animals”, declared to the l ‘AFP Me Elise Arfi, his lawyer.
Sentences “absolutely not dissuasive”
“The gap is widening between an ultra-sensitized public opinion which no longer accepts attacks on animals and penalties imposed which are far below the maximum penalties”, and “absolutely not dissuasive”, reacted for her 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 entitled “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”.