A court case in Paris is causing quite a stir in the Arab world. The celebrated Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred (37) is on trial there in a rape case. It’s a crime he’s been accused of before, but has been able to get away with until now. Until today: he has been sentenced to six years in prison – one year less than required – and a fine of 375,000 euros to be paid to the victim. It was to no avail that the Moroccan King Mohammed IV had made top lawyers available to keep the singer out of prison.
On October 25, 2016, Lamjarred was arrested at the Paris Marriott Champs Elysees Hotel. The then twenty-year-old Laura P., the woman he had taken to his hotel room the night before after a night out, had reported him because he allegedly assaulted her that night and forced her to have sex.
‘She was terrified’
Laura and Lamjarred met in the chic restaurant-nightclub Le Matignon, where they spent the evening together on the dance floor. In her own words, Laura did not know that Lamjarred is a very well-known musician in the Arab world. He was in the French capital for a performance. Around six o’clock in the morning, the two left for the singer’s hotel room.
The victim told her story during the trial. “We kissed and then suddenly he pushed my head against the ground.” The singer would have forced her to undress, after which he would have raped her. Laura obeyed because she was terrified, she tearfully told the Paris court.
Hotel employees who were present that morning confirm her story. For example, a cleaning lady described hearing Laura calling for help. “She was crying and shaking all over. She was terrified.” Her male colleague described how Lamjarred panicked and tried to leave the room in his boxers. “He knelt in front of me and begged me not to call the police,” he testified.
Lamjarred would be under the influence of cocaine and alcohol. He spent six months in a French prison, but was released in April 2017. However, he had to wear an ankle bracelet and was not allowed to leave the country for a long time.
Silver spoon
The ‘king of Arab pop’ was born with a silver spoon in his mouth in the Moroccan capital of Rabat. He is the son of singer Bachir Abdou and actress Nezha Regragui, both established names in Morocco. His most famous song, ‘Lm3allem’ [vakman, ambachtsman]from 2015, has over a billion streams on YouTube.
Shortly after the release of that song, he started collaborating with great artists from Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia and with Nicolas Reyes of the French Gypsy Kings. With Reyes he made a song about the Moroccan king Mohammed IV, ‘Viva El Rey Habibna’ [lang leve onze lieve koning]. The same king immediately provided Lamjarred with the best lawyers when he was arrested, to the anger of many women’s movements in Morocco. According to them, the king’s help would send the wrong signal and not take victims of sexual violence seriously.
It is not the first time that Lamjarred has been accused of sexual assault and abuse. In 2010, he was arrested in New York for allegedly beating and raping a woman in the Brooklyn borough. He fled the country after being released on bail. An arrest warrant was in effect for him until 2016, but it was withdrawn after a settlement was reached with the victim.
A victim also reported to the police in Casablanca, but her charges were also dropped after being pressured by Lamjarred’s family. In 2018 it was hit again, this time in the southern French port of Saint-Tropez, where he seduced a woman in a nightclub to have a drink in his hotel room. Once there, he allegedly pushed the victim brutally onto the bed, clamped her wrists, and forced her to have sexual intercourse.
Read also: One-night stands divide Morocco
Popularity
Despite these four rape cases, Lamjarred’s popularity has not been tarnished, at least not in the Arab world. The singer has even benefited from the personal support of King Mohamed VI. His music continues to boom through the speakers and the credibility of the four victims is called into question.
His fans themselves staged a demonstration in front of the French consulate in Casablanca, chanting slogans such as “We are all Saad” and “Release our Saad.” Fellow artists also support him by saying on social media that they support the singer and do not believe the ‘slander campaign’ against him.