UK DJ on the run after ‘blasphemous’ Orbit show

Berlin-based British DJ Dax J is wanted by Tunisian authorities after mixing the Islamic call to prayer into his set at last weekend's Orbit Festival

By IQ on 06 Apr 2017

image © Elite Music Management

A British DJ is wanted by Tunisian police and a nightclub shut down “until further notice” following a controversial performance at last weekend’s Orbit Festival in Hammamet.

Berlin-based Dax J has been sentenced to a year in prison for “offending public morality” for mixing the adhan – the Islamic call to prayer – into his set at the techno festival on Saturday, after video footage of the performance leaked online:

The governor of Nabeul, Mnaouar Ouertani, told AFP the club in which the offending performance took place, El Guitoune, will “remain closed” until further notice, and its manager has been detained for “violations against good morals and public outrage against [im]modesty. We will not allow attacks against the sacred.”

Around 98% of Tunisians are Muslims, and Islam is the state religion.

Dax J has since apologised. In a statement, Orbit says the DJ had “no intention of provoking your anger or offending you. It is clear, after his apologies, that Dax J is sincere and has no reason to hurt our dear festivalgoers. The sound of the call to prayer inspired him musically, and [he] found that tonality could touch us, which was the case. […] He did not think it would offend you.

“It is unfair that 20 seconds of music messes up a whole two-day event prepared over many long months.”

A recent report by NGO Freemuse revealed there was a sharp increase in “serious violations” of artistic freedom in 2016, with 1,028 attacks on musicians and other artists, including by the conservative musicians’ unions in Tunisia and Egypt.

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