THEhe correctional court of Versailles has ruled. Footballer Karim Benzema was found guilty of complicity in an attempt to blackmail his former teammate Mathieu Valbuena and sentenced to a one-year suspended prison sentence and a 75,000-euro fine on Wednesday, November 24, the maximum fine incurred. “Karim Benzema got personally involved with insistence in trying to convince Mathieu Valbuena to meet his trusted man”, said the president of the tribunal.
During the indictment, prosecutors recalled the French star’s duty to set an example, “bearer of an image, hope, notoriety and moral values”. Besides Benzema, four other men were tried in Versailles for this case. Regarding the latter, the court handed down sentences ranging from eighteen months suspended imprisonment to two and a half years in prison.
The two footballers were absent from the judgment, because of the sports calendar, according to their lawyers. Karim Benzema announced a few minutes after deliberation to appeal his conviction. For his involvement in the “sextape affair”, an intimate video blackmail against footballer Mathieu Valbuena in 2015, the public prosecutor had requested against him 10 months in prison and 75,000 euros in fine.
The judgment is therefore more severe than the requisitions from the Versailles prosecutor’s office. The lawyers say they are flabbergasted and denounce a sentence “severe“,”unfair“, a “conviction without proof” and “display” as well as a “truncated presentation of the facts“.
The court ruled that Karim Benzema’s motive was not the money the fine could bring but his unwavering bond with his childhood friend Karim Zenati. The president of the court considered that, if Karim Benzema was not aware of the precise maneuvers, the content of his interview at Clairefontaine with the victim shows that he was personally involved with subterfuge. He had notably said to his teammate: “On my daughter’s head there won’t be a copy of the video.”
The president also recalls the telephone recording broadcast during the hearing, a month ago, in which Karim Benzema is heard speaking with his childhood friend Karim Zenati, also involved in this affair. They both laugh at Mathieu Valbuena, insult him, then Karim Benzema says: “He doesn’t take us seriously” – this “we” being considered as proof of his involvement according to the prosecution.
Two weeks ago, French Football Federation boss Noël Le Graët explained that the 33-year-old striker “would not be excluded” of the selection in case of “judicial sanction”. Asked about this question in early October, coach Didier Deschamps remained elusive, repeating that he was “sporting choices” when summoning his players.