Rabat – The Draguignan Criminal Court in southern France postponed today the trial of Moroccan star Saad Lamjarred in the alleged 2018 Saint-Tropez rape case.
The court postponed the trial for at least six months as the presiding judge fell ill, AFP reported.
Lamjarred was scheduled to appear before the judge today as he faced another alleged rape accusation from a woman in the resort town of Saint-Tropez.
According to an AFP report, the alleged victim was expected to request that the hearings to be held behind closed doors.
“She is waiting with confidence for the recognition of her status as a victim,” her lawyer Dominique Lardans told the French news agency.
The alleged victim was working as a waitress in Saint-Tropez in August 2018 when she met Lamjarred at a nightclub. She said she did not know he was a famous singer, although she later learned he had millions of followers online. She agreed to join him for a drink at his hotel.
She claimed during her statement to the police that Lamjarred took her straight to his room, tried to kiss her, and then forced her onto the bed, stripped her, and allegedly raped her.
However, Lamjarred insists the encounter was consensual.
Lamjarred has been linked to several other alleged sexual assault cases over the years.
In February 223, the Assize court sentenced the singer to six years in prison, saying that he is guilty of sexually assaulting and physically attacking another complainant he met in a Paris nightclub in 2016, in a hotel room.
Lamjarred, who appealed the case, maintained his innocence and denied any actual intercourse with the accuser.
Last week, AFP quoted a judicial source who said that the Paris criminal court had summoned the 29-year-old complainant in the first alleged rape case for allegedly asking Lamjarred to pay her €3 million to withdraw her accusations.
She allegedly submitted her request to the singer through her manager, AFP reported. The source quoted by the news outlet said the complainant asked for the money to either withdraw her accusations or not appear at the hearing before the assize court.
The same source said Lamjarred was able to dismiss the complainant’s attempt to blackmail him by reporting to the police.
Lamjarred’s lawyers, Zoe Royaux and Laurent Simeray, told AFP last week that the new developments weaken the credibility of the complainant.
