The news has gone around the French media. The Moroccan singer, accused of rape in 2016 by Laura Prioul, aged 20 at the time, saw the facts requalified by the judge on April 9, reports media. An announcement welcomed as a victory by the clan “Lamjarred”, while the clan “Prioul” denounced an injustice.
He was thus returned last Tuesday to the Paris Criminal Court for “sexual assault” and “aggravated violence” in a case where he had initially been indicted for rape.
“The judge in charge of this case has made its order on Tuesday 9 April. According to our information, the magistrate believes that rape is not “absolutely distinctive”. It requalifies the facts that is suspected 32-year-old singer. He is sent to the Criminal Court for sexual assault and willful assault – including slaps and punches – two aggravated offenses because he was drunk and under the influence of cocaine,” reads the columns of the French media.
And to point out that the plaintiff, “who is hoping for a trial at the assisses for rape,” appealed this Friday, April 12.
“At the end of her investigation, the judge noted that the suspect’s DNA could be taken from the victim’s panties and T-shirt. That’s all. In the absence of material evidence, she dismissed the facts of rape,” said the media.
Laura Prioul’s lawyer deplores this decision. “We are disappointed. This order is sloppy. In our eyes, rape is characterized and Mr. Lamjarred must be returned to a court of assizes,” he told.
The advocate of the singer, Jean-Marc Fedida, welcomes this requalification which, in his eyes, “is the judicial confirmation of what Mr. Lamjarred has always said, that there was never any rape”.
“This is a satisfaction for the defense and an important step in the perspective that his honor is definitely washed away from these infamies,” he added.
Recall that the singer is being sued in a second case in France. It was in the establishment of Saint Tropez “Hermitage” that Saad Lamjarred was arrested last summer on a charge of rape. The crooner “vigorously contests the facts and does not recognize any kind of violence,” said his lawyer Jean-Marc Fedida, saying that the sexual relationship was “granted” and that “no material evidence shows that there was violence or constraint”. However, the young woman accuses the singer of rape.