“Benzema is not a Good Samaritan who came to help, he acted to allow the negotiators to come to their end and the blackmailers to receive money“, said during her indictment the prosecutor Ségolène Marés, who pointed out the”authority and notoriety in the French team“from the former Olympique Lyonnais striker.”He is included in this team, he joins in this project“of attempted blackmail around an intimate video, she insisted. The other prosecutor Julien Eyraud for his part recalled the role in society of the star of Real Madrid,”bearer of an image, hope, notoriety and moral values“.
This Thursday, October 21, 2021, the public prosecutor requested 10 months suspended prison sentence against Karim Benzema, accused of complicity in attempted blackmail on Mathieu Valbuena in the “sextape affair”. A fine of 75,000 euros was also requested against the striker of the France team, candidate for the Golden Ball and absent from the trial in Versailles.
Against the four other defendants, prosecuted in this case for attempted blackmail, the public prosecutor requested sentences ranging from 18 months in prison suspended to four years in prison.
The prosecution thus requested four years in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros against Mustapha Zouaoui, considered to be the “umbilical cord” of this affair; two years in prison and a fine of 5,000 euros against Karim Zenati, the childhood friend of Karim Benzema; and 18 months in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros against Axel Angot, who found the video and kept it for later use. Finally, 18 months suspended prison sentence and 5,000 euros fine were required against the intermediary Younes Houass.
Throughout the debates, the four defendants depicted a world watered by players’ money and where “services” and pressure blows are exchanged, against luxury watches, leather goods or sextapes.
In his plea, Mathieu Valbuena’s lawyer, Me Paul-Albert Iweins, denounced the “mafia speech“by Karim Benzema during his intervention in this affair, even comparing him to”God Father“. His client, he recalled, was”excluded“of the national team while he is the victim of this affair.”He was deprived of his Grail by sordid maneuvers and the betrayal of a teammate“, he supported.
Speaking of MM. Angot, Zouaoui and Houass, Me Benjamin Peyrelevade, the lawyer for the French Football Federation (FFF) thundered: “The voice of these three who pollute the world of football has entered, directly or indirectly, in a room in Clairefontaine“, the training center of the Blues. An allusion to the role allegedly played by Karim Benzema, commissioned by the blackmailers to Mathieu Valbuena.
The FFF, civil party in this case, “must protect his players“, he pressed, saluting the attitude of Mathieu Valbuena, the”first player who has the courage to say no, to resist, to file a complaint“.
Mathieu Valbuena did not attend the requisitions and pleadings. At midday, the 37-year-old midfielder, who spoke for a long time on Wednesday about the consequences of this blackmail attempt for him and for his career, left the court in Versailles and joined Frankfurt, where his team of Olympiakos play a Europa League match in the evening.
He took the plane with Mustapha Zouaoui’s apologies in mind. “I apologize from the bottom of my heart, I regret it to death“Said the latter, considered the” brain “of this company. Very talkative in front of the press and in the courtroom, he had nevertheless made fun of the former player of the Olympique de Marseille on Wednesday at the bar.
Karim Benzema did not attend the debates, his lawyers having put forward his “professional” imperatives. After the debates on Wednesday evening, one of the advice of the striker of the France team, Me Sylvain Cormier, spoke to journalists about the “resentment” and “jealousy” of Mathieu Valbuena against the attacking the Blues.
“His calculation is simple: ‘I was dismissed, I no longer found the France team, and sportingly I declined’ and then opposite, there is Karim Benzema who flies over world football current, “the lawyer also commented.
His client theoretically incurs a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.