Moroccan Pop Star Saad Lamjarred Faces Renewed Scrutiny Amid Rape Allegations

Although the Moroccan artist is no longer behind bars (we are talking about rapes after all), fingers continue to point him out as a rapist. The newspaper Le Monde has just given us another example of this. For the media, Saad Lamjarred is (already) "the tarnished star of Moroccan pop".

From the outset, Le Monde reveals its position: "He is considered the Michael Jackson of Arab pop. But behind the image of the friendly handsome guy lies a less flattering reality: in France, he is being prosecuted in two cases of sexual assault. Yet the artist continues to be adored in Morocco, where rape victims often become the accused."

"Less flattering reality", "rape victims" becoming accused... Even though no conviction has been handed down... Let us also point out that for Le Monde, Morocco, or at least its people (or a part of it, we don’t know what to understand), defends a rapist: "«I’d love for him to come and rape me!» shouts a hysterical fan. «He’s the child of the people,» says an old lady before bursting into tears, appalled at the very idea of questioning the innocence of her idol," can be read in the article devoted to the singer by the famous French newspaper.

The Sept à huit report, for its part, revealed several testimonies from alleged victims of violence and rape, both in Morocco and abroad.

And the media go further than that. According to some, in order to avoid scandal or retaliation, for some victims, remaining silent under the law remains the most reasonable solution. And thus, for example, Mediapart encourages them to reveal themselves: "Other victims should testify and file a complaint against him in the future so that rape is never trivialized with him, so that he never breaks the lives of other victims again."

Far from defending anyone, shouldn’t guilt or innocence rather be settled by competent courts? Shouldn’t major press bodies rather wait for a conviction before taking such positions? Apparently not. Saad Lamjarred is already a rapist for part of the French press. And, what is worse is that for them, these media, the Moroccan people defend him knowing full well. Is waiting for a verdict to take a stand really blindness (or something else...)?