The trial began on Wednesday
A prosecutor involved in the trial of Real Madrid star Karim Benzema is seeking a 10-month suspended prison sentence and a €75,000 fine for the Frenchman.
It comes after the trial of the forward began on Wednesday 20 October where he was accused of being allegedly involved in an attempt to blackmail former teammate Mathieu Valbuena.
As per The Guardian, the forward has been accused of “complicity” towards 37-year-old Valbuena in which investigators have claimed that Benzema encouraged the former France international to pay the blackmailers during the incident in 2015.
Both players were dropped from the national side as a result of the accusations, with Benzema getting a recall for the recent European Championships for the first time since the alleged blackmail took place.
The three-day trial will focus on the 33-year-old’s involvement alongside four other men which includes Axel Angot – a man well known to people in French football – who is alleged to have taken Valbuena’s phone to transfer the information to his new phone, at which point he is reported to have discovered sexually explicit content.
It was then reported that Angot and someone close to him used a friend of Benzema – Karim Zenati – who has been accused of using the Madrid star to contact Valbuena.
Prosecutors have claimed that they felt Benzema was recruited by the supposed blackmailers in order to convince his former teammate to pay.
Benzema is also alleged to have called Zenati and in a conversation recorded by the police, stated that “He [Valbuena] is not taking us seriously.”
The 33-year-old has been absent for the trial, with “professional reasons” cited as the explanation behind it according to Get Football News France.
He has denied any offence, with his lawyer describing the situation as “absurd” and the forward arguing that a police officer involved had used dishonest methods to bring him into the incident.
At the end of the second day of the trial (Thursday 21 October) it was reported that the prosecution is now looking at handing Benzema a suspended 10-month prison sentence and to order the 33-year-old to pay a fine €75,000. A decision set to be made on Friday.
