Moroccan Pop Star Faces 3rd Rape Charge in France

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/29/world/europe/france-saad-lamjarred-rape-charge.html

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PARIS — A Moroccan pop star already facing several accusations of sexual assault has been charged again this week with rape on the French Riviera, after a woman accused him of assaulting her in his hotel room.

The singer, Saad Lamjarred, who is popular across the Arab world, was arrested on Sunday in Gassin, near the seaside resort of Saint-Tropez, famous for its jet-setters and night life.

After he was questioned by the police in Saint-Tropez, on Tuesday he was charged with rape and placed under formal investigation, according to the prosecutor’s office in Draguignan, a French town farther north in the Var region.

Pierre Arpaia, a deputy prosecutor in Draguignan, said that the singer had been released on bail of 150,000 euros, or about $175,000, and that he had been barred from leaving France without authorization.

Mr. Arpaia would not comment on the specifics of the case but said in an email that the plaintiff, who has not been publicly identified, was a 28-year-old woman.

The singer denied the accusation “with energy and confidence,” according to Jean-Marc Fédida, his lawyer in France. According to Mr. Fédida, Mr. Lamjarred said that he met the woman on Saturday night at a nightclub in Saint-Tropez, and that they had a consensual sexual encounter at his hotel.

“Mr. Lamjarred disputes that there was any violence toward the plaintiff, and no material evidence taken from the plaintiff’s body or from Mr. Lamjarred’s supports the theory of a rape,” Mr. Fédida said in an email. “Mr. Lamjarred’s room, which the plaintiff came to voluntarily, was thoroughly searched by the investigators, who found no traces of a struggle.”

Mr. Lamjarred was already facing two separate accusations of rape in France, both of which prompted the opening of an investigation. Neither case has yet gone to trial.

In France, complex criminal cases are handled by special magistrates with broad investigative powers. Defendants placed under formal investigation do not automatically stand trial; magistrates can drop cases they believe show insufficient evidence.

In the first of those cases, a Frenchwoman named Laura Prioul accused Mr. Lamjarred of beating and raping her in a Paris hotel room in 2016, after meeting her at a nightclub. Ms. Prioul, who recorded and released a video last year about her accusations, was vilified online and faced threats and smears from fans of Mr. Lamjarred.

Ms. Prioul’s case led another woman to go public with her own accusations of rape. The Franco-Moroccan woman, who has not been identified by the French authorities, accused Mr. Lamjarred of hitting and raping her in 2015 at an apartment in Casablanca.

In 2010, Mr. Lamjarred was also accused of rape in New York, but left the United States while he was free on bail. A prosecutor dropped those charges in 2016, after the American accuser withdrew her complaint, reportedly after reaching a settlement in a lawsuit.

The son of a Moroccan musician and a Moroccan actress, Mr. Lamjarred rose to fame in 2007, after finishing second place on the talent show “Super Star,” a Lebanese version of “American Idol.” Several of the video clips for his songs have amassed hundreds of millions of views online. A French-language song he released in July, “Casablanca,” has more than 56 million views on YouTube.

Mr. Lamjarred has received support from King Mohammed VI of Morocco, who, according to the Moroccan state news agency, helped him hire a legal team after Ms. Prioul’s complaint.

Mr. Lamjarred recently made a brief appearance in a music video by RedOne, a Moroccan producer and songwriter, in which an array of the country’s artists wished the king a happy birthday.