Case of the "sextape": five men including Karim Benzema in court from Wednesday

During their sports career, Karim Benzema and Mathieu Valbuena have crossed paths on several occasions, in Ligue 1 or in the French team.

From Wednesday, it is this time on the judicial ground that they have an appointment.

From October 20 to 22, three judges will try to unravel the threads of a case known under the nickname "the sextape affair", which has agitated the football community for several years.

Read alsoSix years later, Karim Benzema at the time of the verdict of the sextape

Alongside four men, three of whom will be tried for "attempted blackmail" and one for "attempted blackmail" and "breach of trust", the Real Madrid striker must appear before the Versailles criminal court for "complicity in the attempt of blackmail ”on the middle of Olympiakos.

If Mathieu Valbuena's lawyers have confirmed his presence, those of Karim Benzema have not responded to the

requests

.

To read also Affair of the "sextape": Karim Benzema judged from October 20 to 22 in Versailles

It all started in May 2015. Djibril Cissé, then at the end of his career at SC Bastia, called Mathieu Valbuena to warn him that he had access to an extract from a video of a sexual nature in which the native of Gironde appears. In the past, Djibril Cissé was himself the victim of blackmail on the basis of a compromising video, which he told his interlocutor, specifying that he had paid and that said video was never published. On June 3, Mathieu Valbuena receives a call in which a man informs him that he has a “sextape” featuring him and tells him that he wants to “

” with him. This call is followed by several messages: “

”(sic),notably writes the blackmailer.

Mathieu Valbuena lodged a complaint and from June 20, a police officer took over by posing as the player's trusted person.

The investigations make it possible to bring out the names of several men gravitating in the world of football: Mustapha Zouaoui, considered by the prosecution as the "

" of this operation, Axel Angot, who would have had access to Mathieu Valbuena's phone. and could thus have recovered the video, and Younès Houass, who would have played the role of blackmailer.

Faced with resistance from Mathieu Valbuena, the first two suspects would have decided to activate another means of pressure by soliciting a certain Karim Zenati, close to Karim Benzema.

"He doesn't take us seriously"

In the fall of 2015, Karim Benzema burst into the case.

On the evening of October 6, while the French team met in Clairefontaine (Yvelines) to prepare two friendly matches, the Madrilenian began a discussion with Mathieu Valbuena.

According to the latter, he would have approached the subject of the sextape by assuring him that he could introduce him to someone to solve the problem.

At the end of this conversation, Karim Benzema calls Karim Zenati to tell him what just happened.

“

” he says, among others.

Read alsoWhy Karim Benzema is starting from afar in the Ballon d'Or race

It is this telephone exchange, recorded by the police, which earned the two men to be arrested and indicted in November 2015, referred to the criminal court in January 2021 and finally tried in October 2021 alongside Mustapha Zouaoui, Axel Angot and Younès Houass. Djibril Cissé, on the other hand, was exonerated: initially indicted, the former player was cleared by customs by Mathieu Valbuena himself before the examining magistrate in charge of the case pronounced a dismissal, following in that the requisitions of the parquet floor of Versailles. Beyond the penalty incurred - five years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros - the extrajudicial issue is obviously particularly important for Karim Benzema,in full return in favor with the Blues after having seen this "affair of the sextape" paralyze his international career for more than five years. The footballer has always defended himself from any tort and claims to have simply wanted to help his teammate. In March, when the trial date was announced, he responded on social media, writing:

.