Very vehement the day before, Mustapha Zouaoui wanted to calm things down. The trial is held at the Versailles criminal court until Friday.
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After the mockery comes the apology. If he was initially very talkative in front of the press and in the courtroom, Mustapha Zouaoui changes his tactics. The one who is considered to be the “brain” of the case, apologized to ex-international Mathieu Valbuena on Thursday, October 21. “I apologize from the bottom of my heart, I regret it to death”, he declared in court.
Mustapha Zouaoui also apologized to Karim Zenati, the childhood friend of Karim Benzema who implicated the Real Madrid star in this affair. “I manipulated Zenati (…) he is naive”, explained Mr. Zouaoui at the bar.
The trial resumed Thursday after a first day where Mathieu Valbuena spoke for a long time about the consequences that this attempt at blackmail had had on him and his career.
After the debates on Wednesday evening, one of Karim Benzema’s advice, Me Sylvain Cormier, spoke to journalists “the rancor” and the “jealousy” by Mathieu Valbuena.
“Its 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 the current world football “, also commented the lawyer.
The hearing continues Thursday with the pleadings of the civil parties then, if time permits, the requisitions of the public prosecutor. Karim Benzema faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.