Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by a French appeals court after being convicted of aggravated rape in a case dating back to 2016.
The 41-year-old singer was sentenced on Saturday by an appeals court in Créteil, southeast of Paris. The ruling increases the six-year prison sentence handed down to him by a Paris court in 2023 in the same case.
The court also ordered Lamjarred to be taken into custody immediately. French prosecutors had sought an eight-year prison term during the appeal.
The case dates back to October 2016, when Lamjarred met a woman, identified in reports as Laura P., at a nightclub in Paris. She was 20 at the time. The pair later went to a hotel room, where the court found that Lamjarred raped her. Lamjarred, who was 31 at the time, has maintained his innocence.
According to the prosecutor general, Lamjarred was convicted of aggravated rape, with his intoxication at the time of the offence cited as an aggravating circumstance.
His lawyer, Marie Burguburu, said the singer plans to challenge the latest ruling before France’s Court of Cassation.
The appeal proceedings were held behind closed doors. They had initially been scheduled for 2025 but were postponed to allow for further investigation.
Lamjarred is also appealing a separate conviction in France. In May 2026, he was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted of raping a woman near Saint-Tropez in 2018. He has appealed that verdict. Lamjarred is one of Morocco’s best-known singers and has a large following across the Arab world. His songs have accumulated billions of views online.
Source: Khaleej Times