Moroccan Pop Star Saad Lamjarred’s Rape Charges Reduced to Sexual Assault

The judge decided on April 9 to reclassify the facts for which the Moroccan pop star Saad Lamjarred is being prosecuted. According to her, the rape is not "absolutely characterized". That is to say, finally, either there is rape and we cannot prove it completely, or there was none. Laura Prioul, the plaintiff, appealed this decision on Friday.

The article in Le Parisien begins in a way that leaves virtually no ambiguity about its position: "A young woman in shock. She is wearing a torn T-shirt, has scratches on her neck and nose, and a swollen lip. This is the state in which the police found Laura P., 20 years old, when they intervened on the morning of October 26, 2016 at the Marriott hotel in Paris. In tears, she told them that she had been beaten and raped by the occupant of room 714. It’s a celebrity: Saad Lamjarred. The prince of Moroccan pop with millions of fans claims his innocence but is indicted and placed in pre-trial detention for five and a half months. The case is making a lot of noise."

In any case, Saad Lamjarred will appear before the criminal court for sexual assault and intentional violence, two offenses considered aggravated due to Lamjarred’s drunkenness and cocaine use at the time.

According to Me Jean-Marc Descoubes, Laura Prioul’s counsel: "We are dismayed. This order is botched. In our eyes, the rape is characterized and Mr. Lamjarred must be referred to an assize court." As for Jean-Marc Fedida, Lamjarred’s lawyer, he stated: "This reclassification is the judicial confirmation of what Mr. Lamjarred has always claimed, that there was never any rape. It is a satisfaction for the defense and an important step in the perspective that his honor be definitively cleared of these infamies."

Laura Prioul now hopes for a trial before the assize court for rape, and it is with this in mind that she appealed the judge’s decision on Friday.