Lamjarred’s rape case has been ongoing since 2016.
Rabat – The Paris Court of Cassation annulled the ruling of the investigating chamber at the Paris Court of Appeal on the rape case of the infamous Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred. The Court of Appeal had ruled to refer the Moroccan singer’s case to the Assize Court in January.
French news outlet Le Parisian said the highest legal institution in France made its decision on the case in April. The latest ruling means that Lamjarred will not face prosecution at this time.
The cassation court ruled that the judgment of the investigating chamber “does not, in form, meet the essential conditions for its legal existence.”
The court of cassation argued that the initial judgment names only four magistrates – instead of three expected, “which casts doubt and prevents it from being validated. In other words, the code of criminal procedure was not respected,” Le Parisian explained.
Lamjarred has been facing accusations from French citizen Laura Prioul, one of a number of women to accuse Lamjarred of rape. Her case dates back to October 26, 2016.
In April 2019, an investigating judge ruled that rape was not “absolutely characterized” in Prioul’s case.
The judge redefined the rape charges against Lamjarred in April 2019 after a DNA test confirmed the absence of material evidence to prove him guilty.
Prioul’s lawyer Jean-Marc Descoubes, however, appealed the ruling.
French police arrested Lamjarred in 2016. The singer spent six months at the Marriott Champs Elysees prison in Paris, before being released on bail in April 2017 under electronic surveillance.
The police arrested the singer again in August 2018 in Saint-Tropez, southeastern France, after a young French woman filed a new rape complaint against him.
French authorities released him after he paid €150,000 in bail.
In September 2018, the singer went back to jail after a prosecutor appealed his release. The Aix-en-Provence Court of Appeal released him again in December of the same year.
Lamjarred is one of the most popular artists in Morocco and in the Middle East. His music videos bring in millions of views only days after release.
The alleged victim’s lawyers are expected to appeal the decision and continue proceedings against the singer. It remains to be seen whether the court will find Lamjarred guilty on rape charges.
Read also: Trending on Twitter: ‘We Do Not Want Saad Lamjarred in Riyadh’
