Rifinox, a Riffian rapper who was killed under suspicious circumstances

Hussain Bellagrache, known by his stage name Rifinox, was born on March 3, 1993, in the town of Azghenghan in the Rif. From a young age, he started writing poetry. In 2011 he began rapping. Most of his songs were connected to the Riffian identity. Over time, he became an important voice for the Amazigh movement among young people in the Rif and in the diaspora. Through his music, he fought for the Amazigh identity and its right to exist.

Events followed quickly. At the end of 2014, he released several strong songs, including “Azzogh” (I Want) and “Azul” (Hello/Good day). In the following year, 2015, he continued his music career and released more popular songs such as “Asgwas Amaynu” (Amazigh New Year) and “Tamzi” (Youth Years).

On February 6, 2015, he appeared as a guest on a Riffian television program in the Spanish enclave of Melilla. Three weeks later, on February 28, 2015, he took part in a cultural event in Aɛarwi. A day after this event, on March 2, 2015, he disappeared without a trace. According to his family, he had gone out to buy groceries and never returned. Since then, nothing was heard from him.

The lifeless body of Rifinox, with his head cut off, was found on March 22, 2015, in Iznouden/Ihdaden on the Gourougou mountain plateau.

Much has been said and written about his disappearance and the brutal murder, but no clear conclusions have been proven. The place where his body was found and the condition of the body raised many questions. Several rumors also circulated. For example, the media outlet Dalil Rif reported that a fraudster claimed Rifinox was in Rabat after his disappearance. This claim later proved to be false.

An important testimony appeared years after the murder from a former informant of the Moroccan intelligence services, Renseignements Généraux (RG) and Direction Générale de la Surveillance du Territoire (DGST), named Mohammed Khoulali, who worked in Nador. After he fled Morocco and settled in Spain, he said in a Facebook livestream that he knew the name of the person who ordered the murder of the Riffian rapper Hussain Bellagrache. According to him, this person was Ibrahim Sarkhani, also known as “Brahim Adaghlawi”, from Azghenghan (Nador).

Khoulali claimed that this man was an important figure within a Moroccan network of human traffickers. He also said that the same person was behind an attempted assassination of Nasser Zefzafi when Zefzafi was in Nador in December 2016 in connection with a protest march.

In the aftermath of this crime, Rifinox’s family still wonders who was responsible for this brutal act. Riadi Noureddine, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) in Nador and part of the monitoring committee that followed the case, accuses the Moroccan authorities of negligence. He even believes that they hid the truth about Rifinox’s death and covered up the case.

As is often seen in non-democratic regimes, and especially in the Moroccan system, murder cases in which the regime is suspected of involvement often remain unsolved. As a result, the truth often never comes out.

For this reason, Rifinox can be added to the list of Riffians who were killed under suspicious circumstances and whose cases have never been fully clarified. According to Riffian activists and parts of civil society, the Makhzen is often held responsible in such cases.