Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Singer jailed for forced abortion

Reuters
Saturday 04 July 2009 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Algerian singer Cheb Mami has been sentenced to five years in a French prison after being found guilty of forcing an attempted abortion on his former lover. The 42-year-old star of Algeria's popular rai music, whose real name is Mohamed Khelifati, was arrested on his arrival in France on Monday night, having fled to Algeria two years ago.

Known globally for "Desert Rose", a duet with pop star Sting in 2000, he was charged with arranging for his then-partner, a French photographer, to be lured to Algiers in August 2005, a few days after she told him she was pregnant. She was then abducted, drugged by a tranquiliser slipped into her orange juice and taken to have an abortion. After the attack, when the victim returned to France, she realised she was still pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl in March 2006. During the trial, Mami said he had done "wrong" but did not express clear regret and did not speak to his former partner.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in