What we know about the accusations of rape and sexual assault against rapper Naps, author of the hit “La Kiffance”

New accusations target Marseille rapper Naps. The singer of the hit songs The Kiffance Or Best Life is the subject of three new complaints for sexual violence, in addition to a fourth dating back to 2021, in a different case. Franceinfo takes stock of what we know about the various accusations concerning him, and the progress of the legal proceedings.

He was already the subject of a rape complaint in 2021 in Paris

Naps, Nabil Boukhobza by his real name, is already accused of the rape of a woman in Paris, as part of a complaint filed on October 1, 2021 and revealed in the press at the end of July. In this complaint, “A young woman explained that she had spent the previous evening in an establishment in the 9th arrondissement” of the capital, Then “having been invited with friends to the table of the rapper Naps”according to the prosecution.

“They then followed him to his room in a hotel near the Gare de Lyon, which the rapper’s friends gradually left.”reports the same source. “The young women had fallen asleep and one said she was woken up by sexual intercourse. [auquel] she had not consented”, continues the accusation. According to the magazine Point who revealed details of the case at the time, the young woman was 20 years old when she filed her complaint.

Facts that Naps, 33, disputes. “completely” And “with the greatest firmness”, according to his lawyer, Nabil Boudi. In this case, the artist was indicted in October 2021 and placed under judicial supervision.

Nearly three years later, the investigating judge ordered, in a decision handed down in mid-May and seen by AFP in late July, that the rapper be tried before the Paris Departmental Criminal Court. His lawyer has appealed the investigating magistrate’s order calling for a trial.

Three new complaints for “sexual assault” and “rape” have been filed in the Var

The rapper was arrested on Friday, August 2, in a hotel in the seaside resort of Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer (Var), after complaints of “rape” and “sexual assault” by three young adults, the Toulon prosecutor’s office announced on Sunday. The thirty-year-old was taken into custody. This operation was carried out following an investigation into the crime, the prosecutor’s office said.

Late Friday morning, the hotel manager contacted the police after one of her guests, an 18-year-old woman, reported having been raped the previous night by the Marseille rapper, according to information from France Inter. The police then showed up at the establishment to arrest the rapper. In the same hotel, investigators collected testimony from three complainants in total.

Naps was charged after being taken into custody on Sunday. “charges of rape and sexual assault and then placed under judicial supervision by the judge of liberties and detention”, Laurent Robert, the deputy public prosecutor of Toulon, told the press. The investigation, entrusted to the La Valette du Var Research Brigade, will continue on the basis of a rogatory commission from the investigating judge.

The rapper with a million followers on Instagram “completely contests the facts” in this new case “and remains at the disposal of justice as he always has done”his lawyer Nabil Boudi told AFP. He assures that his client is “very serene”.

He was arrested just before attending a festival

Naps was in the Var to perform Friday night in the Fréjus arenas, on the occasion of a festival. During the day, the organization of Fréjus en live announced on Instagram the cancellation of his performance, for reasons “independent reasons of [sa] will”.

“We were informed that Naps did not show up after the doors opened and we learned today [dimanche] the reasons”the organization was keen to clarify in a long message posted on the social network Facebook two days later. “In no case is his failure to attend the concert on Friday attributable to the accusations announced by the media a fortnight ago concerning the events of 2021, continues Fréjus Live. As proof, Naps’ technical production team was present and was also unaware of his non-arrival.”

The organizers deplore having been the object “of a campaign of insults” since the concert was cancelled. “We are as much victims as the disappointed spectators”they add, considering that “the image [du] festival was tarnished by this event.”