The artists produced a seminal album together in 2002. “There are police officers with submachine guns in front of my children's daycare centre!”īushido’s wife fled to Denmark with their new-born baby after the threats and the family now lives under police protection.īorn to a Tunisian father and a German mother, Bushido was introduced to hip-hop by fellow rapper Fler.
“I'm rapping: ‘F*** the LKA, and suddenly these guys are taking care of my family,” he said. “A line had been crossed,” he told the court. During breaks, he remained under the protection of police officers, while the brothers smoked and drank takeaway coffees on the steps of the courthouse.Ī tearful Bushido said he made the life-changing decision to go to the police when he heard of an alleged plot to attack his family with acid in 2019. Getty ImagesĪt a hearing last week, the Abou-Chakers stared down Bushido during his 28th day of evidence in a court packed with reporters.
#Breaking hip hop news trial
The brothers deny the charges against them.Īrafat Abou-Chaker attends the first day of his trial in Berlin, Germany.
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Keen to present himself as a legitimate businessman, Arafat Abou-Chaker last month used a livestream on audio-based social network Clubhouse to declare that he should not be referred to as a clan boss.Įvery turn of the high-profile case is followed by Germany’s tabloid press, rap fans and the public, as the authorities continue to crack down on the activities of the country’s Arab crime families.Īrafat Abou-Chaker, 44, is charged with insulting the rapper, depriving him of liberty, attempting serious blackmail, coercion and dangerous bodily harm. The family has been linked with several high-profile crimes in recent years, including a 2010 heist on a poker tournament in the German capital in which thieves made off with nearly €250,000 ($295,000) in prize money. As Bushido raps in one of his best-known hits: "Don’t f*** with Berlin’s most wanted".Ī large Lebanese family of Palestinian origin, the Abou-Chakers have amassed a long list of criminal convictions including large-scale money laundering. Police have been trying to nail the Abou-Chakers for years but a mixture of witness intimidation, fierce clan loyalty and a lack of political will have failed to bring down the most senior players in the gang. Their presence is such a part of Berlin life that there are tours dedicated to them.Īrmed police officers wearing balaclavas flanked Bushido as he arrived in court to protect a man who they believe holds the key to bringing down one of Berlin’s once-untouchable crime families. Middle East-dominated gangs were responsible for a crime every eight hours in Berlin in 2020.
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In a series of articles, The National revealed how the scale and violent nature of clan crime became entangled in the fierce debate over the integration of migrants in Germany. Showing little of the swagger that has characterised his music career, Anis Mohamed Youssef Ferchichi – better known as Bushido – detailed violent threats against himself and his family after he cut ties with the clan in 2017.Īrafat Abou-Chaker – who is on trial with three of his brothers Yasser, Nasser and Rommel – is also accused of failing to pay tax on Bushido’s fortune, based on the sale of 1.5 million albums that he used to build a property empire.ĭuring their close relationship, the pair posed together at red carpet premieres in matching hoodies and puffer-jackets as each benefited from the association of the anti-establishment, hip-hop scene and the fast-living lifestyle of Arab-organised crime in the city.īushido attends court during the Arafat Abou-Chaker trial in August 2020 in Berlin. For months, Berlin has been transfixed by a Bushido performance of a different kind inside the austere surroundings of Tiergarten district court after he turned on his former manager Arafat Abou-Chaker, accusing him of harassment, threats and blackmail.
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