Benzema sentenced to one year in prison in case of blackmail of French team mate; lawyers will appeal sentence

The French justice condemned this Wednesday to the Real Madrid star Karim Benzema to one year in prison, with suspension of sentence, as an accessory to the attempt to blackmail his former teammate Mathieu Valbuena with an intimate video.

“Benzema was personally involved (…) to convince his teammate to accept the blackmail,” said the Versailles correctional court, for whom the forward showed “some jubilation” and “no benevolence”With Valbuena.

The magistrates thus established a penalty of imprisonment for more than 10 months requested by the prosecution during the trial in October, but imposed the same fine requested by the public prosecutor: 75,000 euros ($ 87,000).

After the verdict was read, the 33-year-old forward’s lawyers, who was not present throughout the trial due to professional commitments, announced a future appeal against conviction, which will suspend your application.

“The reaction is a finally anger reaction“, Assured his lawyer Sylvain Cormier, who charged against” a very harsh, unjust penalty and without proof. The defense claimed that the “intentional element” of the crime did not occur.

During their allegations, the representatives of the prosecution stressed instead that the star of the French team had the duty to set an example, as “bearer of an image, a hope, a notoriety and moral values.”

Although the outbreak of the “sextape” scandal kept him away from the French team for five years until his return on the eve of the European Championship in 2021, the sentence seems that it will not pass a sports bill, one year from the World Cup.

Two weeks ago, the president of the French Football Federation (FFF), Noël Le Graët, already told the newspaper The Parisian that the candidate for the Ballon d’Or “will not be excluded“In case he is convicted.

And, regarding the Real Madrid, it seems unlikely that the Spanish team, which plays this Wednesday a Champions League match against the Sheriff Tiraspol in Moldavia, sanction one of his best players, which he has always supported in this case.

Up to 2 and a half years in jail

Against the other four defendants for the attempt to blackmail the current Greek Olympiakos player, the Versailles court imposed penalties ranging from 18 months of probation up to 2 and a half years of mandatory prison

The events date back to October 6, 2015. During a concentration of the national team, Benzema goes to Valbuena’s room to warn him of the video and assure him that he can introduce him to “someone you trust“To” manage “the situation.

During the trial, the 37-year-old midfielder, who was never called up to the national team again after the scandal, acknowledged that he feared for his career, “if the video came to light.” “I felt in danger, my first instinct was to report”He added.

The person recommended by Benzema, who claims to have given a “friend’s advice”, is his friend Karim Zenati, with whom the alleged blackmailers had contacted to pressure Valbuena, having failed in previous attempts.

To Axel Angot, who found and preserved the video of the cell phone that the victim had entrusted to him, the justice imposed two years in prison, six months less than Mustapha Zouaoui, considered as the “umbilical cord” of this case.

The penalty for Zenati, Benzema’s childhood friend, was 15 months of mandatory prison. On Younes Houass, a first intermediary who contacted Valbuena, the court imposed 18 months in prison with suspended sentences.