The footballer was targeted by the Minister of the Interior, who accused him of being in “notorious links (…) with the Muslim Brotherhood”, after having published a message of support for residents on X in mid-October from Gaza.
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There will be no trial between Karim Benzema and Gérald Darmanin. The Requests Committee of the Court of Justice of the Republic dismissed the complaint for defamation of the 2022 Ballon d’Or against the Minister of the Interior on Thursday February 15. Lex-Real Madrid star, who now plays in Saudi Arabia, had been targeted by Gérald Darmanin after publishing in mid-October on a message of support to the inhabitants of Gaza, victims, according to him, of “unjust bombings” carried out by Israel in retaliation for the bloody Hamas attack of October 7.
The tenant of Beauvau had argued that this position could be explained by Karim Benzema’s links with the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist organization born in Egypt, where it is considered to be “terrorist”. “Karim Benzema is linked, we all know, notoriously, with the Muslim Brotherhood, we are attacking a hydra, which is the Muslim Brotherhood because they give an atmosphere of jihadism”he said on the CNews channel on October 16, triggering a storm on social networks.
“To base your decision”explains Remy Heitz, the attorney general at the Court of Cassation, “the requests committee notes that Mr. Benzema’s complaint relates to comments which do not impute to him any facts which are likely to undermine his honor or his reputation.”