Saad Lamjarred has been re-charged with rape by French appeals court

On Tuesday, a French appellate court referred Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred to trial in a court of assizes, charging him with the alleged rape of a young woman back in 2016, Le Parisien reported.

The singer had previously been set free on bail and traveled back to Morocco upon his release. He was going about relaunching his career in the region when the latest decision came out. The legal move means an order made last April referring Lamjarred to a criminal court has now been overthrown. 

The order was challenged by the singer's victim, 23-year-old Laura Prioul, who went ahead with the case and won. Following the announcement of the latest legal turn in the case, Prioul's lawyer, Jean-Marc Descoubes, said he and his client were "satisfied with this decision" to take the case to assizes court rather than to a correctional one. 

Lamjarred has always denied any wrongdoing in the case and has hired a team of lawyers to defend him, including Thierry Herzog and Jean-Marc Fédida. Both legal representatives have said they are convinced of the singer's innocence and will appeal the latest court ruling within the next few days. 

The Moroccan celeb has always claimed his innocence despite the fact that several women have come forth, accusing him of rape and sexual abuse. 

Over the past few years, the singer was accused of rape in three separate cases, two filed in France and one in the Unites States. 

Back in 2016, a U.S. court indicted him after a woman denounced him of physically and sexually assaulting her in Brooklyn in 2010. The singer allegedly fled the country after posting bail in the case. 

Months after being indicted in the U.S., Lamjarred was arrested in another rape case in France but was later released on bail, though he was banned from leaving the country. 

In 2018, another victim accused him of raping and physically assaulting her. He was arrested yet again and later released on probation. Lamjarred returned to Morocco in August for a visit after months of being unable to leave France due to his legal troubles. 

Though he still had cases pending against him, he nonchalantly kept his career going in the region, releasing tracks and performing a concert in Riyadh despite the fact that many called on it to be canceled. He also performed a concert alongside Egyptian actor and singer Mohamed Ramadan in Dubai this month. 

His victims were left dismayed even further when YouTube removed two of his songs off its platform over copyright infringement issues and not his rape charges. 

The singer's legal battles are far from over but it remains to be seen whether he will put his career on hold until he faces justice. This is because in the Arab world, it's unfortunately still acceptable for accused sexual harassers to be hailed and idolized instead of being shamed.