British DJ Sentenced For Using Muslim Prayer in Mix

Tunisia sentences British DJ, called Dax J to one year in jail for using Muslim prayer in his mix set.

Dax J is a Dj and producer of raw, hard techno and drum’n bass. He was born in London and now lives in Berlin. His passion for techno came after spending a summer in Ibiza where he just became obsessed with it and began releasing small tracks during the early 2010s. He then became one of the most known hard techno artists and played in the most prestigious places. In 2007, he quickly snaped back into reality. While being at the top of his career, Dax Jwas playing his tracks in Tunisia in a Nabeul club called El Guitone. He was inspired and took some Muslim call to prayer in his techno remix.

This was perceived as an insult for Muslim people which led to the UK Dj and producer to be found guilty of public indecency and offending public morality after footage of him playing the track, which emerged on social media. This went so viral that the club was shut down and its owner was taken into custody. However, charges against the owner and the promoter were dismissed later on.

The British Dj had been arrested for “violation against good morals and public outrage against modesty”, according to the Nabeul governor Mnaouar Ouertani who claimed: “the government will not allow attacks against religious feelings and the sacred”. Many people felt betrayed by his act while others saw it as (what it was from the principle) a producer being inspired by the beauty of the symphony call to player.

Dax J left Tunisia the day after the broadcast of the video on the networks and the outbreak of the scandal and apologized the same day on the page of the ORBIT Festival Facebook page https://fr-fr.facebook.com/TheOrbitFestival/ ,stating he had no intention of offending their religion and, on the contrary, he wanted to convey a message of peace.

“I hold the upmost respect for all religious across the globe and I can now understand how my recent actions would have been perceived in the wrong way. We must all take time to truly respect and appreciate everybody’s beliefs in the world to move forward as a global society. I want to express my deepest apologies to anyone who has been offended by the music that I played and am incredibly saddened that anyone would believe that I played a track, featuring a 20-second vocal of the “Call Of Prayer”, for any reason other than its musicality and the beauty of the vocal.” said Dax J.

His apologies may not seem to have convinced many Tunisian Internet users, as they insulted him and even threatened him with death, which then forced Dax J to close his accounts on Social Media.

As a result of this unfortunate and unintentional incident, Dax J after going back to Europe wasn’t sentenced of a year of prison as he wasn’t on the Tunisian ground but was dissuaded from the judge to step a foot in the country for at least 5 years. Dax J now avoids Muslim countries to keep a low profile, but still has a huge crowd every time he is touring, and people still love him, more than ever.