The trial of Moroccan artist Saad Lamjarred (40 years old) will begin on Monday at the Draguignan Criminal Court in southern France, on charges of raping a waitress who worked at a bar near Saint-Tropez in 2018, a charge that the artist vehemently denies.

The sessions are scheduled to start at 2 PM, with expectations that a verdict will be issued by Thursday. Lamjarred, who is attending the trial free, will appear before the judges amidst intense media coverage.

In this context, the plaintiff's lawyer, Dominique Lardain, announced that he would request a closed hearing, quoting his client as saying about her experience: "A night of horror, 7 years of waiting, suffering, and patience. She is confidently waiting for recognition that she is a victim."

The events of the case date back to August 2018, when the plaintiff was working as a waitress in Saint-Tropez and met Lamjarred at a nightclub. According to her official statement to investigators, she said she did not initially realize he was a famous singer, although she later learned that "millions follow his pages on social media" that night. She added that she was impressed by him and agreed to have a drink with him at the hotel where he was staying.

According to her account of the events, Lamjarred "took her directly to his room and raped her." Meanwhile, Lamjarred insists that their relationship was entirely consensual.

It is noteworthy that this is not the first time Saad Lamjarred has faced similar criminal charges. His name surfaced in the United States in a rape case dating back to 2010, but the legal proceedings against him were dropped following a financial settlement with the victim, the amount of which was not disclosed.

He was also charged with another rape in April 2017, based on a report filed by a French-Moroccan young woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted and beaten by him in Casablanca in 2015.

It is noted that Lamjarred was sentenced to six years in prison in France in 2023 after being convicted by the Paris Criminal Court of raping a young woman he had met in a nightclub in Paris and beating her in a room at a luxury hotel in the French capital in 2016.