Despite the court ruling, the Real Madrid striker will not go to prison, as his sentence was suspended.
The French justice condemned this Wednesday to the star of Real Madrid, Karim Benzema, to one year in prison, with suspended sentence, as an accessory to the attempt to blackmail his former teammate, Mathieu Valbuena, with an intimate video.
“Benzema was personally involved (…) to convince your teammate to accept the blackmail“Said the Versailles correctional court, for whom the forward showed” some joy “and” no benevolence “with Valbuena.
The magistrates thus established a prison sentence of more than 10 months requested by the Prosecutor’s Office during the trial in October, but imposed the same fine requested by the Public Ministry: 75,000 euros ($ 87,000).
Following the reading of the verdict, the 33-year-old forward’s lawyers, who was not present throughout the trial due to professional commitments, announced a future appeal against the sentence, which will suspend its application.
“The reaction is finally one of anger,” said his lawyer, Sylvain Cormier, who charged against “a very harsh, unjust penalty and without proof”. The defense claimed that the “intentional element” of the crime did not occur.
During their arguments, the representatives of the prosecution emphasized instead that the star of the French team had a duty to set an example, as “bearer of an image, a hope, a notoriety and moral values”.
Although the outbreak of the “sextape” scandal kept him away from the French team for five years until his return on the eve of the European Championship in 2021, the sentence seems that it will not take a sports bill, one year from the World Cup.
Two weeks ago, the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Noël Le Graët, told Le Parisien newspaper that the candidate for the Ballon d’Or and The Best next Monday for his performance with the Gauls “he will not be excluded” in case he is convicted.
And, regarding the Real MadridIt seems unlikely that the Spanish team, which is playing a Champions League match against Sheriff Tiraspol in Moldova this Wednesday, will sanction one of its best players, whom it has always supported in this case.
The other convictions
Against the four other defendants for the attempt to blackmail the current Greek Olympiakos player, the Versailles court imposed penalties ranging from 18 months of conditional prison to 2 and a half years of mandatory prison
The events date back to October 6, 2015. During a concentration of the National Team. Benzema goes to Valbuena’s room to warn him of the video and assure him that he can introduce “someone you trust” to “manage” the situation.
During the trial, the 37-year-old midfielder, who was never called up to the national team again after the scandal, acknowledged that he feared for his career “if the video came out.” “I felt in danger, my first instinct was to report,” he added.
The person recommended by Benzema, who claims to have given a “friend’s advice”, is his friend Karim Zenati, with whom the alleged blackmailers had contacted to pressure Valbuena, having failed in previous attempts.
A Axel Angot, who found and preserved the video of the cell phone that the victim, the justice, had entrusted to him imposed two years in prison, six months less than Mustapha Zouaoui, considered as the “umbilical cord” in this case.
The penalty for Zenati, Benzema’s childhood friend, was a mandatory 15 months in prison. TO Younes Houass, a first intermediary who contacted Valbuena, the court imposes 18 months imprisonment with suspension of sentence.
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