Cheb Mami sentenced to 5 years imprisonment

Bobigny (France) - The French-Algerian Raï star Cheb Mami, 42, was sentenced Friday to 5 years in prison in France

• The French-Algerian Raï star Cheb Mami, 42, was sentenced Friday to 5 years in prison in France for the attempted forced abortion on his former companion in 2005.
  Seven years in prison Thursday were requested by the prosecutor of the criminal court in Bobigny, near Paris.
  
      His continued detention was also requested. The verdict must be delivered Friday at 3:00 pm local (1:00 pm GMT).
  
      “I regret everything that happened. I ask forgiveness (the victim), I regret,” said the singer before the suspension of the hearing Thursday shortly after 11:00 pm.
  
      Attorney Ophélie Champeaux also required six years' imprisonment and an arrest warrant against Michel Lecorre (Maurice Lévy), the former manager of Cheb Mami, who appeared on the same grounds.
  
      Eight years have been requested against Hicham Lazaar, man of confidence of the singer, and ten years against Abdelkader Lallali, suspected to be his henchman, both absent and presented by the prosecutor as “executants.” The magistrate requested the issuance of arrest warrants against them.
  
      During his closing arguments, Ms. Champeaux said Cheb Mami and his ex-impresario were "co organizers" of “violence of another age.”
  
      Cheb Mami, Mohamed Khelifati in civil status, “is the instigator of these vile acts, of these barbaric acts. He tried, for his image in France and Algeria, not to have this child” criticized Ms. Champeaux.
  
      Put in Prison (Prison of Health) in Paris since Monday after two years of leakage in Algeria, Cheb Mami faces ten years in prison and 150,000 Euros fine.
  
      He was particularly criticized for the “violence” with the aggravating circumstances in 2005 against a press photographer of 43, with whom he maintained a relationship.
  
      In August 2005, Camille - the name was changed at the request of the victim - said to have been forcibly moved in a villa in Algiers after she announced her pregnancy to the singer who did not want the child. She said she has been drugged and kidnapped, saying that two women and one man tried to curettage. She finally gave birth to a girl now aged three.
  
      “I was insulted (dirty bitch, bitch, you faulted). They balanced me on the mattress and my pants were ripped. There were two women astride. They made me three injections, a (woman) pressed my belly and the other put her hand in the vagina and scratched,” says Camille at the helm.
  
      Cheb Mami has acknowledged responsibility, admitting into tears “his misconduct,” but said he was “trapped”.
  
      “I was over,” he said. “It's against my principles, my religion. I can not explain it. I made a mistake. A serious mistake. A nightmare. I was not in the house but I knew what was happening.”
  
      He then returned the blame on his ex-impresario: “It was the idea of Michel Lecorre.” “I accepted in panic. But I did nothing to stop it,” he admitted.
  
      “It was a shame for me to have an illegitimate son or daughter, a child is made by two. I did not want this child,” explained the singer.
  
      In the morning, the court had to examine the personality of one who was the first and only Raï singer to fill the Palais Omnisports of Paris-Bercy. According to the expert report, Cheb Mami “has no personality disorder.”
  
      
  Ennaharonline / M. O.