In 2016, after an evening in a nightclub where she met the singer, a young woman followed him to his hotel room. There, she accuses him of having raped and hit her. Saad Lamjarred, who disputes the facts, is judged from this Monday.
What happened behind the door of room 714 of the Marriott hotel, this night of October 26, 2016? In the luxurious establishment on the avenue des Champs-Elysées, in Paris, Laura Prioul claims to have been raped and beaten by a famous Moroccan singer 11 years her senior.
More than seven years after the facts, the one she accuses, Saad Lamjarred, is on trial from this Monday before the Paris Assize Court for aggravated rape and intentional violence. Since the start of the investigation, he has denied any forced sexual intercourse. She does not vary in her statements and maintains her accusations.
Laura Prioul says she met Saad Lamjarred during an evening in a select nightclub, Le Matignon. The two discuss, then the young woman, then 20 years old, abandons her friends to follow the singer and other partygoers in “after”, in a room of the Intercontinental hotel, place Vendôme.
A man “very angry and threatening”
Alcohol and cocaine punctuate the evening. In a new impetus, the revelers change location: direction, this time, the hotel room of Saad Lamjarred, at the Marriott des Champs-Elysées.
Laura Prioul follows the singer, thinking to be joined by other friends. But around 6 o’clock, it is alone that they drink champagne, room 714. They kiss and melt on the floor. That’s when the situation escalates.
Around 9 a.m., the police were called to the scene and discovered a prostrate young woman, in tears, who claims to have been raped. According to the version that Laura delivers to the agents, when she stopped kissing the singer, he grabbed her by the hair, laid her down and immobilized then unbuttoned her pants. Despite her reluctance, he briefly penetrated her, she said. To get rid of his grip, the young woman recounts having slapped and bitten him. He then punched her in the face.
Still according to the statements of the complainant, Laura Prioul managed to get up and took refuge in the bathroom, warning him that she was going to file a complaint. It was then that the singer would have offered him 150 euros and a bracelet in exchange for his silence.
Laura Prioul ends up running away from room 714, screaming in the corridors of the hotel. When questioned, three Marriott employees confirm that they took care of the young woman in a state of panic, her clothes torn and her face bruised. She was being chased by a “very angry and threatening” man.
The artist denies the facts
From his first appearance before the investigating magistrate, Saad Lamjarred strongly contested any sexual act with the young woman. He admits having kissed her but explains that she suddenly slapped him, he then “pushed her face” to defend himself.
If he followed in his footsteps in the hallway, it was because he “is someone well known and does not want the neighbors to hear noise”, justifies the star. He wanted to ask him not to cause a scandal, three days before his concert at the Palais des Congrès.
However, the medical and gynecological examinations carried out on Laura Prioul reveal numerous bruises and traces of scratches. If the vaginal samples do not detect any trace of sperm, a mixture of the DNA of the two parts is raised at the level of the crotch and the panties of the plaintiff.
In addition, the past of the celebrity does not play in its favor. Although his criminal record does not mention any conviction, Lamjarred’s name has already appeared in two legal proceedings.
Other women have accused the singer of rape
In February 2010, a young woman filed a complaint against him for rape, but the charges were dropped six years later after the payment of a sum of money to the complainant.
In 2016, another woman, in turn, filed a lawsuit for rape, after discovering Laura Prioul’s complaint. The facts denounced by this Franco-Moroccan date back to 2015 and took place in Casablanca, Morocco, in circumstances similar to those described by Laura Prioul. However, the family pressure she says she suffered because of her complaint led her to drop the charges. The case finally ended in a dismissal in 2019.
In the light of these elements, the singer – close to the King of Morocco – was placed in pre-trial detention for a time, which caused the switchboard of the Paris courthouse to receive malicious calls, punctuated with insults and threats from individuals demanding the celebrity’s release. Then, the content of the facts denounced by Laura Prioul was questioned, leading to a reclassification of the facts as sexual assault in 2019.
This new orientation of the investigation was strongly contested by the civil party who obtained, a few months later, the reversal of the decision. After procrastination, Saad Lamjarred appears free this Monday, under judicial supervision, before the Paris Assize Court for a crime, accompanied by aggravating circumstances, causing him to incur a 20-year prison sentence.
