Moroccan Pop Star Faces Criminal Trial for Alleged Rape, Risks 20-Year Sentence

This new development in the case represents a major blow for the 35-year-old Moroccan singer, who has always denied the allegations against him. In a ruling on March 2, the investigation chamber of the Paris Court of Appeal ordered, in line with the public prosecutor’s office’s requisitions, the referral of Saad Lamjarred to the criminal court for aggravated rape and aggravated violence, reports Le Parisien.

According to the Court, there is sufficient evidence against the Moroccan singer, who is said to have abused Laura P., then 21 years old, on the night of October 25 to 26, 2016 in a Parisian hotel after meeting her the previous evening in a nightclub. That night, the young woman had to flee the room with her torn T-shirt.

For the Court, the young woman’s decision would have triggered the singer’s violence and his forced penetrations "corroborated by the gynecological examination." Jean-Marc Descoubes, Laura P.’s lawyer, stated at the February 2 hearing before the Court that the defendant had unsuccessfully tried to compensate the young woman with a bracelet and 150 euros. Moreover, a psychiatric expert also noted the defendant’s intolerance to frustration, who had already been prosecuted in 2010 in a rape case in the United States that had resulted in a settlement.

As for Lamjarred’s lawyers, Jean-Marc Fédida and Thierry Herzog, they had noted the absence of traumatic lesions related to sexual violence and had pleaded for a dismissal. They can appeal again in cassation.