Cheb Mami is on parole

Melun (France) - The Algerian rai star Cheb Mami, convicted in France five years in prison in 2009 for assault on his ex-girlfriend, left prison Wednesday, said Wednesday his lawyer.

•    Cheb Mami, 43, was "released from prison in Melun (Paris region) Wednesday at 09:00 am (08:00 GMT), he is doing very well and we are delighted with this decision which is a victory," told AFP Me Khaled Lasbeur.
•    "He will resume his professional activities" and "he has changed manager," added the lawyer.
•    The court had accepted the March 16 request for parole for the Algerian singer, sentenced July 3, 2009 to five years in prison for an attempted forced abortion of his ex-girlfriend.
•    He was incarcerated in Melun since.
•    He had previously made an application in October of parole for parental care for his two year old son, born in Algeria during his mare, which had been dismissed.
•    Cheb Mami has been condemned in particular for "violence" with aggravating circumstances in 2005 against Camille, a news photographer of 43, with whom he maintained a relationship.
•    She said she had been taken by force in August 2005 in a villa in Algiers after she had announced her pregnancy to the singer, who was opposed. She said she had been drugged and kidnapped, saying that two women and a man tried to make her curettage. She finally gave birth to a girl now aged four.
•    After two years on the run in Algeria, the singer was brought to justice, while also his career seemed stalled.
• Ennaharonline/ M. O.