Saad Lamjarred Announces His Return Home After Court Ruling Sentencing Him in France

- The Moroccan artist Saad Lamjarred announced on Saturday that he is on his way back home after a French court sentenced him to 5 years in prison, without issuing a warrant for his arrest, on Friday, in a rape case dating back to 2018. Saad wrote a message to his audience via the stories feature on his official Instagram account: "My family, loved ones, and dear audience, I assure you that I am fine, thank God..

I am on my way home and returning to work, and preparing for upcoming concerts.. A court in Draguignan, southeastern France, issued a 5-year prison sentence for the Moroccan artist on Friday, without detaining him, and ordered him to pay a compensation of 30,000 euros (approximately 35,000 US dollars) to the victim, in addition to 5,000 euros (about 6,000 US dollars) for legal fees, according to French and Moroccan media.

The incident dates back to 2018 when the plaintiff, who worked as a waitress in a nightclub in Saint-Tropez, alleged that the Moroccan artist invited her to his hotel room and accused him of raping her, but Lamjarred claimed at the time that the relationship was "consensual." Saad Lamjarred had previously been sentenced to 6 years in prison in 2023 for assault and rape of a young woman in France in 2016, and an appeal against the ruling was scheduled for June next year, but the trial was postponed due to legal actions against the plaintiff, according to French media.

Saad also faced similar charges in 2010 in the United States and in Morocco in 2015.