French court gives Saad Lamjarred a second rape conviction

A verdict years in the making

A criminal court in Draguignan, southeastern France, convicted Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred of rape on Friday, May 15, 2026, and sentenced him to five years in prison for an assault that took place in Saint‑Tropez in August 2018. The verdict came after a week of closed proceedings and more than four hours of deliberation by the panel of judges. It is the second time a French assize court has found Lamjarred guilty of rape, compounding a legal crisis that has shadowed the 41‑year‑old star for nearly a decade.

The sentence fell well short of the ten years sought by prosecutors but represents a significant escalation in a case that had already wound through the French judicial system across several postponements and jurisdictions. The court also ordered Lamjarred to pay 30,000 euros in civil damages to the complainant and a further 5,000 euros toward her legal costs, as provided under France's Code of Criminal Procedure for civil‑party compensation in sexual‑assault matters.

What happened in Saint‑Tropez in 2018

The case centers on the night of August 26, 2018, when a 20‑year‑old barmaid working in Saint‑Tropez encountered Lamjarred at a nightlife venue and later went with him to his hotel room. She alleged that he raped her after she had consumed alcohol and was no longer in a position to give meaningful consent. The prosecution built its case on medical assessments conducted shortly after the incident and on witness testimony, most notably that of a friend of the complainant who described finding her in a state of severe physical and psychological distress immediately afterward.

Lamjarred denied all allegations throughout the hearing, maintaining that the encounter was consensual and that he was the target of a false accusation. The trial was held entirely behind closed doors at the complainant's request, a right guaranteed under French law to victims of sexual assault to protect their privacy. The hearing ran from Monday to Friday, with the verdict delivered on the final day.

No immediate detention, appeal to follow

Despite the guilty verdict, the Draguignan court did not issue an immediate committal order. Judges noted that Lamjarred had already served three months in pretrial custody in 2018 and had respected the conditions of judicial supervision placed on him in the years since. He left the courthouse in free status, pending either the formal start of sentence enforcement or the outcome of an appeal. Reports from inside the courtroom described him freezing momentarily when the sentence was read before breaking down in tears and embracing his wife.

His legal team announced plans to challenge the ruling within the statutory ten‑day window, arguing that the evidence did not satisfy the legal standard for a rape conviction and that the judgment is inconsistent with the direction of earlier proceedings against him in France. If filed, the appeal will keep the Draguignan case active in the French appellate system for months, and potentially longer.

A second conviction layered onto the first

The Draguignan ruling does not exist in isolation. In February 2023, a Paris assize court sentenced Lamjarred to six years in prison for the rape of Laura Prioul, a different woman he met at a Parisian nightclub in 2016 and assaulted in his hotel room. That court stated it was fully convinced of the rape based on the complainant's account, which it described as consistent and precise from the moment she first filed her complaint. Lamjarred appealed that conviction and was released from pretrial custody in April 2023. The Paris appeal was scheduled to be heard at the Créteil Court of Appeal in June 2025.

With two separate assize courts now having returned guilty verdicts against him for rape involving two different women in two different cities and two different years, Lamjarred's legal standing in France has deteriorated sharply. Under French criminal law, a second conviction for the same category of serious offence can increase sentencing exposure significantly at the appellate stage, as courts may treat the defendant as a repeat offender. If both sentences are ultimately upheld, whether they run concurrently or consecutively will become a defining question for his defence and for the administration of his prison term.

A decade of allegations across borders

The legal landscape surrounding Lamjarred extends further still. A complaint was filed against him in Morocco over an alleged assault in Casablanca in 2015, and a French‑Moroccan woman raised separate allegations against him in 2017. Those cases have moved more slowly through their respective legal channels, adding further layers to an already intricate portrait. The Draguignan trial itself had been delayed multiple times before finally opening in May 2026, including a suspension in 2025 caused by the health of the presiding judge, illustrating the practical and logistical difficulties of prosecuting high‑profile defendants in sexual‑assault cases that span multiple jurisdictions and demand sustained witness support over years.

Cultural standing and a divided audience

Across Morocco and the wider Arab‑speaking world, Lamjarred remains a figure of substantial cultural weight. His songs, including Lamaallem and Enty, have accumulated billions of streams on digital platforms. He counts more than 15 million followers on Instagram and nearly 16 million subscribers on YouTube. Throughout the legal proceedings, he has maintained a visible public presence, and his wife has stood beside him at court appearances, a dynamic his supporters have repeatedly highlighted as a mark of his character.

The twin convictions have widened a fault line that has existed in public opinion since the first allegations surfaced. Many of his supporters in Morocco and the Gulf continue to frame the cases as manufactured attacks on a successful Arab artist navigating a foreign judicial system. Advocates for survivors of sexual violence in both France and Morocco have drawn the opposite conclusion, pointing to the Draguignan verdict as further confirmation that French courts apply the same standards of accountability to celebrities as to anyone else. As the appeals process unfolds on two fronts simultaneously, both interpretations will remain contested, and Lamjarred's career and public image will continue to be defined as much by courtrooms as by recording studios.