Moroccan popstar Saad Lamjarred is on trial in the Paris Assize Court for the rape of a young woman in 2016.
[Mis à jour le 24 février 2023 à 11h34] Faced with accusations of rape and violence, Saad Lamjarred evokes a “misunderstanding”. This week is being held at the Paris Assize Court, the trial of the Moroccan popstar, tried for the rape of a young woman in 2016 in Paris. At the helm, the stories of the two protagonists turn out to be diametrically opposed. The complainant and the singer agree on their meeting and the start of the evening: in a nightclub, one evening in October 2016, then a festive after party in the artist’s hotel room.
It is on the sequel that the versions are opposed. The alleged victim, Laura P., recounts, at the bar, the violence that Saad Lamjarred allegedly subjected her to. He would have undressed her by force, before licking her body and giving her a first punch and inflicting two penetrations, digital, vaginal and anal, and a brief penile penetration, reports AFP. On the contrary, Saad Lamjarred evokes foreplay “like two people who meet and like each other”, details The Parisian.
He then recognizes violence, after feeling a scratch on his back. “At that time, I had a reflex that I still regret today: I pushed his face brutally and I squeezed it”, he explains at the bar, according to the newspaper, before to address the plaintiff: “I regret this reflex of involuntary violence, I did not want to make you cry.” Expressing these regrets, Saad Lamjarred pleads a “misunderstanding” and a “misunderstanding.” The artist was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. He insists: “I will maintain it until my last breath: I have never penetrated Mrs. Laura P., neither with my penis, nor with my finger”
The verdict is expected this Friday, February 24. Advocate General Jean-Christophe Muller requested, Thursday, February 23 before the Paris Assize Court, seven years in prison and five years ban on French territory against Moroccan pop star Saad Lamjarred. The Moroccan singer is also accused of aggravated rape in a case that allegedly took place in similar circumstances in August 2018. His name had also been cited in several rape cases, in the United States and in Morocco.