Europe 1 with AFP 6:58 p.m., February 24, 2023
Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred was found guilty of raping and assaulting a young woman in 2016 and was sentenced in France to six years in prison.
The plaintiff's lawyer welcomed the decision of the Paris Assize Court, which said it was "convinced" of the rape after seven hours of deliberation.
The Paris Assize Court on Friday sentenced Moroccan star singer Saad Lamjarred to six years in prison, convicted of raping and beating a young woman in a hotel room in the capital in October 2016. After seven hours of deliberate, the court said it was "convinced" of the rape, "described in a constant and precise manner" by the civil party Laura P. since her complaint.
A warrant of committal has been issued, Saad Lamjarred will therefore be detained immediately.
At the statement of the verdict, pronounced in a room full of fans and curious, Saad Lamjarred, pale, got up but showed no reaction.
On the bench of the civil parties, Laura P. hugged her mother for a long time, crying.
The facts she denounces date back to October 2016. She had met the singer, ultra famous in the Arab world, in a posh nightclub in the capital, and had followed him in a first "after" then at his hotel.
For the court, there is no doubt that she followed him "voluntarily" and had the intention of "flirting", said President Frédérique Aline.
"A remarkable decision that corresponds to reality"
On the spot, they had discussed, danced, and had kissed, before the singer "suddenly" became violent, and that he raped her and beat her according to the account made by Laura P., 20 years old at the time, in court.
Saad Lamjarred strongly denies any sexual penetration, and just admits having, by "reflex", "brutally pushed the face" of Laura P. who would have suddenly "scratched" him while they were undressing, recalled the president in his reading of the decision, finding that the 37-year-old singer's "variable and evolving statements" were not credible.
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Laura P.'s lawyers hailed a "remarkable decision which corresponds to reality", in the words of Me Jean-Marc Descoubès.
In defence, one of Saad Lamjarred's lawyers, Me Thierry Herzog, indicated that they should "reflect" before "deciding what to do next" - to appeal or not.
The singer has several times been implicated for rapes in similar circumstances.
He must in particular be tried before the Assize Court of Var, accused of having, in 2018, raped in his hotel room a young woman met in a nightclub in Saint-Tropez.