Cheb Mami to serve his term in a French prison

The Algerian singer Cheb Mami yielded to his lawyers’ and decided to serve his term in the French prison instead of the Algerian one, reconsidering thus his initial choice.

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• The ten days allocated to the defendant by Bobigny’s court of justice to make an appeal reached the deadline, which means that the singer, who was charged for a forced abortion on his former concubine Isabelle Simon, will not discuss the court’s decision.
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• His lawyers saw it useless for the singer to appeal because the procedure will disclose further details that will certainly have a negative impact on the singer’s psychological status. Mami intended to make an appeal but changed his mind at the last moment, according to one of his relatives.
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• His lawyer Claire Debliez has declared to the French Press Agency (AFP) that her client will stay in a French prison. The decision was the outcome of intense negotiations with him in order to convince him to dwell on the French soil.
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• She went on saying that Cheb Mami will most probably benefit from an unconditional release after two and half years in prison, according to the French legislation. The singer will call on the French judicial authorities to be released after two years imprisonment.
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• The request is generally accepted the French authorities, according to the singer’s lawyer.
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• Cheb Mami will serve his term in “La santé” penitentiary in Paris. The prison is the most famous of the three prisons existing in the French capital city. It was built centuries ago and was in the past used as an asylum for mentally ill people.
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• “La santé” was known in the 1960s, 1670s and 1980s for the famous “O” pavilion which was dedicated to the Algerian prisoners.