Benzema Sentenced To 1 Year Suspended Jail Term Over S€x Tape Scandal
Reports has it that the case dates back to 2015 when the two French players were at a training camp, where Benzema was pressurizing Valbuena to pay-off the blackmailers whom he (Benzema) had conspired with.
It began in 2015 when Valbuena, asked a man in Marseille, Axel Angot, to upload the contents of his mobile phone to a new device. Mr. Angot in the process of duty came across some sexually explicit material on the phone. He and another defendant in the trial, Mustapha Zouaoui, were accused of trying to blackmail Valbuena by threatening to make the tape public.
Mr Zouaoui told reporters he had shared the tape, but there had never been an attempt to extort money.
Valbuena described being approached by another defendant, Younes Houass, who told the court he had warned the player about the issue without asking for money.
Following accusations to this case, Benzema has always denied the allegations as he claims he was only trying to help Valbuena get rid of the compromising video.
Benzema was not present in court in Versailles for the verdict, nor was Valbuena, who plays for Greek club Olympiakos. Meanwhile, four of Benzema's accomplices in the trial were also found guilty and were handed jail sentences ranging from 18 months suspended to two-and-a-half years in prison.
But when delivering the verdict, the judge said Benzema had "implicated himself personally, through subterfuge and lies, to convince his teammate to submit to the blackmail".
Benzema made a surprise comeback to the French national team in May, five years after he was exiled from the side when the allegations first surfaced in 2015.
But last month, the French football federation said a guilty verdict would not necessarily jeopardise Benzema's position in the national side.
The scandal has stunned the football community in France and both players lost their national team places.
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