PH
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has pledged to cover the lawful charges of pop artist Saad Lamjarred, who confronts trial in France for the alleged aggravated of a 20-year-old lady in the capital Paris.
The King had told Lamjarred’s family on Tuesday that French legal advisor Eric Dupond Moretti would protect the artist, the nation’s legitimate MAP news office reported.
The 31-year-old singer is well known on the Arab pop music scene.
The king “decided to cover the corresponding costs”, MAP said, sourcing its information to Rabat’s embassy in Paris.
The embassy told AFP: “This is a favourable response to a request from the family of the singer who sought his majesty’s intervention, and with respect for the presumption of innocence.”
On Friday, he was charged in France with “aggravated rape” and “aggravated voluntary violence” after a 20-year-old woman on Wednesday filed a complaint against him.
She claims that several hours earlier, the star assaulted her in his hotel room near the Champs Elysees in Paris.
According to initial results of the inquiry, Lamjarred was said to be under the influence of both alcohol and drugs at the time of the alleged offences.
Lamjarred, who had been due to perform in Paris on Saturday, was arrested and placed in custody.
His detention was greeted with consternation in his home country, where he had been decorated in August last year by the king, the Middle East Eye reports
