A court in Paris convicted Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred on Friday of rape and sexual assault and sentenced him to six years in prison.
The 37-year-old Lamjarred, famous in Arabic pop music, was on trial since Monday on charges of aggravated rape and assault.
A six-member jury and three magistrates deliberated for seven hours before the singer was found guilty of raping a French woman in a luxury hotel on the Champs-Elysées in October 2016 while under the influence of alcohol and cocaine.
Lamjarred denied the rape and assault allegations. He admitted on the first day of the trial that he used alcohol and drugs “occasionally” at the time, but said he had since stopped.
Lamjarred told the president of the magistrate on Friday that he “absolutely did not do what I am accused of,” according to reports in French media.
Jean-Marc Descoubes, the victim’s lawyer, told reporters at the start of the trial that his client was undergoing treatment but staying strong despite the trauma she suffered.
The woman, who was 20 at the time, said she met Lamjarred at a nightclub in Paris and accompanied him to his hotel, according to a document detailing the investigation’s conclusions.
She said he hit her several times as she tried to push him back before he raped her, the document said. She managed to leave the room and hotel staff reported seeing her crying and in distress.
Lamjarred is one of the most popular artists in the Arab world. His music video “Lm3allem” has been viewed more than 1 billion times on his YouTube channel where he has more than 14 million subscribers.
King Mohammed VI awarded him Morocco’s highest national honor in 2015.
Lamjarred has also been accused of the aggravated rape of a woman in August 2018 at a nightclub in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. A trial date has not been set.
Feminist activists in North Africa and the Middle East have campaigned against Lamjarred in recent years as part of the #MeToo movement, leading to the cancellation of some of his shows in Egypt and elsewhere.
