Karim Benzema sentenced to 1 year in prison suspended in case of sex video

The France and Real Madrid national team forward Karim Benzema was sentenced on Wednesday to a one-year suspended prison sentence and to pay a fine of 75,000 euros ($ 84,000) in a case of a sex video that shook French football and put the international battering ram’s career on hold for more than five years.

Benzema was found guilty of participating in an extortion attempt on Mathieu Valbuena, his teammate at Les Bleus, in 2015. In addition to the fine, the Madrid player will have to pay Valbuena another 80,000 euros (89,700) in damages.

The footballer’s lawyers said they will appeal the decision.

Benzema was charged with complicity in an extortion attempt for a recording of sexual content that is believed to have been stolen from Valbuena’s cell phone.

The Versailles court decision is unlikely to affect Benzema’s immediate future in sports. The forward is considered one of the favorites to win the Ballon d’Or on November 29 in Paris after a great season with Madrid. The president of the French Football Federation, Noel Le Great, has already said that he could remain in the team even though he was found guilty.

The player was in Madrid’s call-up for the Champions League group stage match against the Moldovan Sheriff later on Wednesday.

Benzema, who denies having committed any crime, was not present at the trial last month and was also absent from the reading of the verdict. The other four defendants, who were also found guilty, also did not appear Wednesday.

“Benzema will come to explain himself to the appeals court,” said Antoine Vey, one of his lawyers. “He was absent from the trial for professional reasons; the fact that he was absent influenced the sentence. This conviction is unfounded ”.

The prosecution asked Benzema for a fine of 75,000 euros, the maximum allowed for this charge, and a suspended sentence of 10 months in jail.

The court sentenced Mustapha Zouaoui, whom it identified as the mastermind of the plot, to two years and six months in prison. Axel Angot, who got hold of the video in 2014, was sentenced to two years in prison. Another of the convicted blackmailers, Younes Houass, received a suspended 18-month sentence and a close friend of Benzema, Karim Zenati, a 15-month suspended sentence.

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The sentences of Angot and Zenati could undergo some adjustments.

Following his preliminary indictment in November 2015, Benzema was removed from the national team by coach Didier Deschamps and missed the 2016 Euro and the 2018 World Cup that crowned France in Russia.

Deschamps recalled Benzema before the postponed Euro 2020 and, since then, he has been a regular in their line-ups.

During the trial, Valbuena said that Benzema spoke to him about the recording and told him “there is a video, it’s hot” during a call for France in Clairefontaine in October 2015. According to the plaintiff, the Madrid player told him that he had a good friend who could help "fix your problem".

Although Benzema “never spoke to me about money,” Valbuena said he understood that he should pay for his friend’s help.

In another telephone conversation recorded by the police, Benzema spoke to Zenati about his conversation with Valbuena. Benzema and Zenati have known each other since childhood. When Zenati was released from prison in 2013 after serving sentences for robbery and drugs, the footballer hired him as an assistant.

In the intercepted call, which was played during the trial, the two joked about Benzema’s conversation with Valbuena. Benzema said that he had told him that “if you want the video to be destroyed” he should contact Zenati without implicating the police, lawyers or anyone else.

"I gave him my word that there are no copies", said the Real Madrid forward in that recording.

Valbuena’s attorney, Didier Domat, said the ruling was a relief to his client. Unlike Benzema, he has not played for France since the scandal.

“He has suffered sports damage that is difficult to repair,” said Domat. “We are happy that his status as a victim has been recognized.”

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