A court of Versalles declared this Wednesday to Karim Benzema, forward of Real Madrid and of the France team, guilty of complicity in the attempt to blackmail his former teammate Mathieu Valbuena for a sex tape, for which he imposed a sentence of conditional imprisonment of one year in jail, which implies the suspension of compliance, in addition to a fine of 75,000 euros (USD 84,170).
“Karim Benzema became personally involved insistently to try to convince Mathieu Valbuena to meet with his trusted man”, the court explained, according to statements released by the newspaper The team. In other words, the Prosecutor’s Office argued that Benzema encouraged Valbuena to pay an alleged group of blackmailers to keep the sexually explicit footage hidden.
Axel Angot, Mustapha Zouaoui, Younes Houas y Karim Zenati, the other four defendants, were also found guilty by the sentencing court in a case that shook French football in 2015.
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After communicating the sentence of a case that came to light six years ago, the lawyer of the French gunner of the Real Madrid told the press that the player will appeal the conviction. The defense considers that the verdict is out of place and will seek his acquittal.
This decision is unlikely to affect the immediate future of a Benzema going through a great sporting moment. He is one of the favorites to fight for him Golden Ball the next November 29th on Paris. Even this Wednesday, it is likely that he will play with the Real Madrid this same Wednesday before him Sheriff Tiraspol from Moldavia in a match corresponding to the Date 5 of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League.
Following his preliminary indictment in November 2015, he had been removed from the French national team by the coach Didier Deschamps and the participation in the Euro 2016 and consecration in the World Cup 2018. Although Deschamps reconvened this year before the Eurocup And since then, he has been a regular in their lineups.
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The president of the French Football Federation, Christmas Le Graët, He already said that he could continue in the team even if he was found guilty of being an accomplice in the extortion attempt for a recording of sexual content that is believed to have been stolen from the cell phone of Valbuena.
Benzema constantly denied his involvement in this crime despite the fact that did not appear in court during the trial nor to hear the verdict.
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