Musician on trial for abortion

2009-07-02 16:01

Paris - Music star Cheb Mami, arrested in Paris this week after two years on the run in Algeria, went on trial on Thursday charged with forcing his ex-girlfriend to undergo an attempted abortion.

Known as the "Prince of Rai", Mami, whose real name is Mohammed Khalifati, faces 10 years in jail and a €150 000 ($210 000) fine if found guilty of the assault on his former companion, a 43-year-old magazine photographer.

The Franco-Algerian singer, who skipped bail and fled to North Africa in 2007, was the target of an international arrest warrant. Interpol in January formally asked Algiers to hand him over to Paris.

Charged with causing bodily harm, sequestration and issuing threats against his ex-girlfriend, Mami flew into Paris on Monday evening and turned himself in to border police. He was taken into custody in the capital.

Wearing a white shirt, the 42-year-old singer, who has worked with the likes of British pop star Sting, arrived for the hearing early on Thursday in Bobigny near Paris.

Botched abortion

Mami's former manager Maurice Levy - who the singer accuses of organising the botched abortion - is standing trial on the same charges.

The woman, whose name has been withheld, alleges that in the summer of 2005 she was sequestered and drugged in a house in Algiers belonging to a friend of the singer after revealing that she was pregnant. Two doctors then allegedly attempted to carry out an abortion on her.

Returning to France, the woman learned that her pregnancy had not been terminated and went on to have the child, who is now three years old.

The star now says he "regrets" his attitude toward his ex-partner, but has blamed his former manager Levy for organising the operation.

"The biggest mistake of my life was to follow the advice of my Jewish manager," said the singer, who has not performed since the scandal broke.

But according to comments made by the singer in 2005, recorded by his ex-partner, he was present during the procedure.

"My client wants recognition of the barbaric acts she lived through. That those who assaulted her finally own up to their responsibilities.

"For Cheb Mami to say who did what, who decided what. For him to stop laying the blame on his ex-manager," the woman's lawyer Marie Dose said ahead of the trial.

Mami claimed while in Algeria he was the target of a European media witch hunt due to his success as an "Arab star".

In an interview in June, he said he had lost faith in the French judiciary and preferred to be tried in Algeria. The trial is set to wrap up later on Thursday. The verdict could be handed down immediately or at a later date.

- SAPA