Thursday October 21, 2021
Sex tape trial in France
Suspended sentence required for Benzema
A scandal that shocked the whole country six years ago: Karim Benzema was tried in France when an ex-colleague was extorted from sex videos. Real Madrid star striker is likely to get away without jail but could receive suspended sentences. He does not appear in court.
In the trial of attempted blackmail with a sex video, the public prosecutor has demanded a ten-month suspended sentence for aiding and abetting the French national soccer player Karim Benzema. The Real Madrid striker is also said to pay a fine of € 75,000. This was confirmed by the Versailles public prosecutor of the dpa.
The hearing will last until Friday. Benzema has not yet been present in person. In addition to him, four other men have had to answer in court since Wednesday. In contrast to Benzema, however, not because of aiding and abetting, but attempted blackmail, in one case also because of abuse of trust.
Benzema as part of a strategy?
The allegations go back to June 2015. Back then, when French midfielder Mathieu Valbuena was called, threatened with the release of an intimate video that was supposed to feature him. The background should be a 25,000 euro debt from one of the men that should be paid. The broadcaster France Info reported that the suspect should have pulled the video from Valbuena’s phone.
The focus of the allegations against Benzema is a private conversation between him and Valbuena about the sex tape a few days after the call. Benzema is said to have tried to persuade his colleague to talk to a middleman. There was no talk of money, but that was clear, said Valbuena. Benzema was part of a strategy and knew this, the French broadcaster BFM TV quoted the public prosecutor as saying. Benzema’s defense had denied the allegations against him.
According to media reports, some of the defendants repeatedly stated in court that they merely wanted to help Valbuena prevent the sex video from being published. The public prosecutor’s office demanded several years’ imprisonment and fines for them.