Benzema’s Criminal Case

Oranges038

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It's taken 6 years to come to that poxy verdict? Ah to be rich.
Well this is the same judicial system that sentenced a man in absentia to 25 years in jail for a crime he wasn't convicted of in another country. A full 22 years after it actually happened.
 

JPRouve

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If you have money, you can also hire experts with knowledge of said safeguards.
Of course but the key is to have knowledge and time, money won't help you much if you don't have knowledge and time. A lot of the very lengthy cases don't come from people that are particularly wealthy, you just have to look at ECJ cases.
 

kthanksbye

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you don't go to jail, unless you commit another crime during your suspended-jail time sentence.
He doesn't see the inside of a prison cell...and not be naughty during that timeframe.

It means that you don't go to prison but will if you commit certain felonies or crimes.
So basically he pays the fine and goes to jail only if he commits another crime, so pretty much like the rest of the world. Farcical really.
 

RUCK4444

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Absolute joke how celebrities avoid prison time and again.

You literally need a 4k video of a celebrity committing murder before they are ever in real jeopardy.
 

JPRouve

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So basically he pays the fine and goes to jail only if he commits another crime, so pretty much like the rest of the world. Farcical really.
Yeah, keep in mind that he isn't the blackmailer, he is friend with them and allegedly told Valbuena that it would be easier if he paid them. I have no idea about similar precedents and the type of sentence but I doubt that you would get a prison sentence.
 

kthanksbye

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Yeah, keep in mind that he isn't the blackmailer, he is friend with them and allegedly told Valbuena that it would be easier if he paid them. I have no idea about similar precedents and the type of sentence but I doubt that you would get a prison sentence.
Oh I didn't know that. Was that what really happened or was that how his lawyers saved him?
 

Drifter

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Sickens me how the rich, or well-connected , get away with this,
 

JPRouve

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Oh I didn't know that. Was that what really happened or was that how his lawyers saved him?
If I'm not mistaken that's what the justicce got and why he was judged as an accomplice. The other three got 2.5 years, 2 years and 1.5 year.
 

kthanksbye

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If I'm not mistaken that's what the justicce got and why he was judged as an accomplice. The other three got 2.5 years, 2 years and 1.5 year.
Yup, that's convenient.
Interesting that his lawyers accepted that sentence then, if he merely advised Valbuena to pay the blackmailers. If he hasn't committed a crime, why even accept a suspended jail term.
 

JPRouve

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Yup, that's convenient.
Interesting that his lawyers accepted that sentence then, if he merely advised Valbuena to pay the blackmailers. If he hasn't committed a crime, why even accept a suspended jail term.
They didn't, he appealed.
 

padzilla

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Surely to God he’s going to be dropped by the French squad and Real Madrid after being found guilty. What an absolute scumbag.
 

Champ

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From the sounds of it and from what the judge said, Benzema has been caught bang to rights here.
He was complicit in this and really should get reprimanded by Real and France Football federation.

The evidence really doesn't look good for him, can't see how he'll wriggle out on appeal.
 

A-man

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Surely to God he’s going to be dropped by the French squad and Real Madrid after being found guilty. What an absolute scumbag.
Doubt it. Both Messi and Ronaldo were found guilty for crimes and both still play for clubs and countries.
 

BalanceUnAutreJoint

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Yeah, keep in mind that he isn't the blackmailer, he is friend with them and allegedly told Valbuena that it would be easier if he paid them. I have no idea about similar precedents and the type of sentence but I doubt that you would get a prison sentence.
He's not friends with the blackmailers, he's friend with Zenati who was contacted by the blackmailers.

Surely to God he’s going to be dropped by the French squad and Real Madrid after being found guilty. What an absolute scumbag.
Not gonna happen.
Also this is an extremely minor crime. We'd play with 6 men on the pitch if we started dropping players for criminal offenses.
 

JPRouve

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Didn't France drop him for a long time and he was only recently recalled?
He was eligible relatively quickly but he decided to target Deschamps during that time when Deschamps was one of the few people to publcily support his right for a fair trial, then someone tagged Deschamps' house calling him racist and it was over for Benzema. Benzema and Valbuena have been eligible since October 2016.

The FFF president essentially said that Benzema has been sanctioned by justice and that it's not his role to add to it.
 

JPRouve

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Justice works in funny ways. A man who slapped Macron had the fastest trial ever. If you have good (expensive) lawyers, things can go extremely fast or slow
If I'm not mistaken he was handled by the police tribunal which is very quick and is meant for that type of offence. The blackmail case was handled by a criminal court which is a lot slower and lead to higher sentences.
 

padzilla

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Haha no, played the full 90 minutes tonight.
Just goes to show you can do whatever the hell you want when you're an elite-level footballer.
Sad to see morality is a long way down the list of priorities for clubs and organisations.
 

duffer

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Just goes to show you can do whatever the hell you want when you're an elite-level footballer.
Sad to see morality is a long way down the list of priorities for clubs and organisations.
He got droppped for years and missed a world cup win for France because of this so he certainly paid a price in terms of his legacy.
 

padzilla

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He got droppped for years and missed a world cup win for France because of this so he certainly paid a price in terms of his legacy.
Odd how he was dropped when facing charges but his recall just happened to coincide with his form improving - now that he's been found guilty he isn't being dropped as his form is still fantastic.
Have I left anything out?
 

BalanceUnAutreJoint

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Odd how he was dropped when facing charges but his recall just happened to coincide with his form improving - now that he's been found guilty he isn't being dropped as his form is still fantastic.
Have I left anything out?
Have you been living under a rock? What form improving? He's been putting up the same numbers for the past 4 seasons.
 

duffer

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Odd how he was dropped when facing charges but his recall just happened to coincide with his form improving - now that he's been found guilty he isn't being dropped as his form is still fantastic.
Have I left anything out?
Dunno about leaving anything out but you've totally made up that he got recalled because his form improved.
 

Lord SInister

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So was Benzema involved in blackmailing Valbuena?
Or he just advised Valbuena to pay the blackmailers. Sorry I am getting what exactly he did. If it is the former, he should be punished. If it is the latter, I don't see how he is wrong, although legally it can be seen as a obstruction of justice, but I think most of the people advise the same as he did.

Sorry I am not so clear about the status of this case, so if I wrote anything wrong, apologies.
 

BalanceUnAutreJoint

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So was Benzema involved in blackmailing Valbuena?
Or he just advised Valbuena to pay the blackmailers. Sorry I am getting what exactly he did. If it is the former, he should be punished. If it is the latter, I don't see how he is wrong, although legally it can be seen as a obstruction of justice, but I think most of the people advise the same as he did.

Sorry I am not so clear about the status of this case, so if I wrote anything wrong, apologies.
Short rundown of the story

-Valbuena hands over his broken phone to Axel Angot so he can retrieve his personal data

-Axel Angot founds the sextape in the phone's data, together with a friend of his Mustapha Zaoui, they try to get in contact with Valbuena, telling him they want to find an arrangement (clearly blackmail but they never directly asked for money which is why at their trial they made up some story about wanting to get involved as business partners with him)

-Valbuena calls the cops and they send someone to act as an intermediary between him and the blackmailers

-The blackmailers can't get anywhere with intermediary so they try get into contact with someone who personally knows Valbuena

-They contact Karim Zenati a known mafioso (went to prison for robbery,drug dealing) as they know he is a childhood friend of Benzema from the same neighborhood

-Zenati then gets into contact with Benzema and asks him to speak to Valbuena about the video and how "serious" the people who got the tape are about releasing it

-Benzema speaks to Valbuena and tells him if he doesn't care he should let them release the video and if he does then he can put him in contact with Zenati
 

duffer

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So was Benzema involved in blackmailing Valbuena?
Or he just advised Valbuena to pay the blackmailers. Sorry I am getting what exactly he did. If it is the former, he should be punished. If it is the latter, I don't see how he is wrong, although legally it can be seen as a obstruction of justice, but I think most of the people advise the same as he did.

Sorry I am not so clear about the status of this case, so if I wrote anything wrong, apologies.
If I was getting blackmailed and told you about it, and you then said "just pay them, you don't need the hassle" then you have not committed a crime or done anything morally wrong.

If I was getting blackmailed, didn't tell you anything about it but you came to me (on behalf of the blackmailers) suggesting I pay up or else, you're committing a crime.

Apparently one of the blackmaillers is a childhood friend of Benzema.
 

giorno

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By talking to Valbuena on behalf of a friend of his acting on behalf of the blackmailers, he became an accomplice, is what i got
 

Foxbatt

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By talking to Valbuena on behalf of a friend of his acting on behalf of the blackmailers, he became an accomplice, is what i got
yes and that what he has maintained all along. The other question is how much were they demanding from Valbuena? Surely Benzema is also rich enough not to get involved with peanuts by his standards?
 

BalanceUnAutreJoint

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yes and that what he has maintained all along. The other question is how much were they demanding from Valbuena? Surely Benzema is also rich enough not to get involved with peanuts by his standards?
No one knows how much they would have demanded because they did not specify any sum. Hence why at the trial they said it was all a plan to "get in contact with Valbuena and get involved with him as business partners" as they had a luxury cushions business going on.
 

Calidad

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Short rundown of the story

-Valbuena hands over his broken phone to Axel Angot so he can retrieve his personal data

-Axel Angot founds the sextape in the phone's data, together with a friend of his Mustapha Zaoui, they try to get in contact with Valbuena, telling him they want to find an arrangement (clearly blackmail but they never directly asked for money which is why at their trial they made up some story about wanting to get involved as business partners with him)

-Valbuena calls the cops and they send someone to act as an intermediary between him and the blackmailers

-The blackmailers can't get anywhere with intermediary so they try get into contact with someone who personally knows Valbuena

-They contact Karim Zenati a known mafioso (went to prison for robbery,drug dealing) as they know he is a childhood friend of Benzema from the same neighborhood

-Zenati then gets into contact with Benzema and asks him to speak to Valbuena about the video and how "serious" the people who got the tape are about releasing it

-Benzema speaks to Valbuena and tells him if he doesn't care he should let them release the video and if he does then he can put him in contact with Zenati
Assuming that is an accurate account of events, Benzema doesn’t appear to have acted maliciously. More naive perhaps?
 

TwoSheds

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Assuming that is an accurate account of events, Benzema doesn’t appear to have acted maliciously. More naive perhaps?
Yep, very thick. But I'm sure it appeals to his ego to have the connection with Zenati (and presumably other gangsters) and it makes you wonder whether this is the only time he's done something daft.
 

duffer

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BalanceUnAutreJoint

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giorno

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Yep, very thick. But I'm sure it appeals to his ego to have the connection with Zenati (and presumably other gangsters) and it makes you wonder whether this is the only time he's done something daft.
Zenati and Benzema are literally childhood best friends
 

harms

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He's talking to Zenati here. Zenati isn't one of the blackmailer either. He's an intermediary.
Intermediary in blackmail is still a blackmailer. It's not like he's doing it for free out of the goodness of his heart (I can believe that for Benzema but he still got involved).
 

JPRouve

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Yep, very thick. But I'm sure it appeals to his ego to have the connection with Zenati (and presumably other gangsters) and it makes you wonder whether this is the only time he's done something daft.
Benzema comes from the same place these "gangsters" come from, it has nothing to do with his ego it's the people he grew up with.