Singer Saad Lamjarred sentenced on appeal to ten years in prison for rape

Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred was sentenced on appeal on Saturday September 26 in Créteil to ten years of criminal imprisonment for rape, a heavier sentence than at first instance. Very popular in Morocco and the Arab world, the artist was sentenced in 2023 to six years in prison by the Paris Assize Court.

The 41-year-old singer was sentenced with a committal warrant to ten years of criminal imprisonment for aggravated rape due to his alcoholic state, said the general prosecutor's office, which had requested eight years of imprisonment. A cassation appeal will be filed, told AFP Me Marie Burguburu, one of the artist's lawyers, who proclaimed his innocence.

He was found guilty of raping Laura P. in a hotel room in 2016, met in a Parisian nightclub, aged 20 at the time of the facts and he was 31. In another case, Saad Lamjarred was sentenced in May to five years in prison by the Var Assize Court, in Draguignan, for the rape of a young woman in 2018 near Saint-Tropez. He appealed.

In Créteil, the appeal trial was held behind closed doors, after having been postponed until June 2025 to conduct additional investigations. “This sentence seems to me to be explained in particular by the worrying profile of the accused, but also by the particularly aggressive strategy adopted” with regard to the complainant, declared Me David Chemmi, one of her two lawyers. “The systematic questioning of his words, as well as the attacks directed against investigators and experts, were clearly poorly received by the jurors. We can defend an accused with determination, but we cannot do so by denying or scorning the victim,” he added.

In this case, five people were convicted in April for an attempted extortion against the singer: three million euros were demanded from him so that the complaint was withdrawn and the complainant did not come to testify before the court. Laura P. was released but her mother, a lawyer and an influencer were sentenced, along with two other people, to suspended prison sentences ranging from six months to two years.

The singer was implicated in similar cases in 2015 in Morocco and in 2010 in the United States, where proceedings for rape and sexual assault were dismissed after a financial arrangement with the victim. He is followed by more than 15 million subscribers on Instagram and nearly 16 million on his YouTube channel.