The Criminal Appeal Court of Val-de-Marne in the French city of Créteil sentenced Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred to 10 years in prison on Saturday 26 September and ordered his detention after convicting him of the aggravated rape of Laura Prioul in a hotel room in Paris in October 2016, with his being under the influence of alcohol deemed an aggravating circumstance.
Créteil court increases Lamjarred’s sentence
The ruling, issued overnight from Friday 25 to Saturday 26 September, was four years longer than the sentence imposed by the Paris Criminal Court in February 2023. The court of first instance had convicted Lamjarred of rape and aggravated violence and sentenced him to six years in prison, before he appealed the decision and the case was reheard by the Créteil court.
The public prosecutor’s office had sought an eight-year prison sentence for the singer during the appeal trial, but the jury handed down a 10-year sentence. Lamjarred, 41, had appeared before the court at liberty and under judicial supervision before being taken into custody in the early hours of Saturday to enforce the detention order issued with the ruling.
Lawyer Mary Bourgoubouro, one of the singer’s lawyers, announced that the defence team would appeal to the Court of Cassation. Lamjarred continued to maintain his innocence before the court, denying that he had had any sexual relations with the complainant, while acknowledging that he had pushed her «violently in the face» after she scratched him during their exchange of kisses. The appeal hearings lasted eight days, having opened on 17 September, and were held behind closed doors.
Laura Prioul rape case dates back to 2016
The trial had been postponed in June 2025 for additional investigations before judicial proceedings later resumed. The case dates back to October 2016, when Laura Prioul, then 20, met Lamjarred, who was 31 at the time, at a nightclub in Paris.
She accused him of assaulting and later raping her in a room at a hotel in the French capital. The events led to his conviction at first instance and then to an increased sentence on appeal. David Chimi, one of Prioul’s lawyers, attributed the harsher sentence to what he described as the defendant’s «disturbing profile», as well as the «highly aggressive strategy» adopted by the defence towards the complainant.
He said the systematic questioning of her account, together with attacks on investigators and experts, appeared to have been viewed negatively by the jury. Chimi added that a defendant could be defended firmly, but not by denying or disparaging the victim.
Prioul’s lawyers criticise Lamjarred defence strategy
His statement followed a trial during which the defence maintained that no sexual relationship had taken place and challenged the complainant’s account and the work of investigators and experts. Separate proceedings arising from the case concerned an attempt to extort money from the singer. In April, five people were convicted after asking him for three million euros in exchange for withdrawing the complaint and preventing Prioul from appearing to testify before the criminal court.
Those convicted included Prioul’s mother, a lawyer, an influencer and two other people. They received suspended prison sentences ranging from six months to two years. Laura Prioul, who was also tried in the extortion case, was acquitted after the court found that the evidence did not establish that she intended to withdraw her allegations in order to facilitate Lamjarred’s acquittal.
Another non-final conviction in a French case
The Moroccan singer faces another judicial proceeding in France. On 15 May 2026, the Var Criminal Court in the city of Draguignan sentenced him to five years in prison after convicting him of raping a young woman in an incident dating back to 2018 near Saint-Tropez. Lamjarred appealed that ruling, so the conviction is not yet final.
Lamjarred, who was born in Rabat in 1985, had previously been charged in two similar cases, one in Morocco in 2015 and the other in the United States in 2010. The US proceedings relating to allegations of rape and sexual assault were closed after a financial settlement with the complainant.
Lamjarred is one of the best-known singers in the Arab world, with more than 15 million followers on Instagram, while the number of subscribers to his YouTube channel is approaching 16 million. The current case is expected to proceed to an appeal before the Court of Cassation, according to his defence team’s announcement after the appeal ruling.
