Real Madrid star Benzema on trial in 'sextape' affair

Real Madrid forward Karim Benzema went on trial in France on Wednesday accused of complicity in the attempted blackmail of former international teammate Mathieu Valbuena in a case which has become known as the sextape affair, or "l'affaire du sextape."

Benzema, 33, stands accused of helping a group of alleged blackmailers approach Valbuena in an attempt to extort money in 2015 by threatening to publish sexually explicit footage discovered on the latter's phone.

While Valbuena, 37, was in court for the start of the trial in Versailles, Benzema, who helped Real Madrid to a 5-0 Champions League win over Shakhtar Donetsk in Ukraine on Tuesday night, was not.

The sextape affair

The trial will examine the role that Benzema played in the murky affair which began when Valbuena entrusted his smartphone to Axel Angot, a man connected to footballing circles in Marseille, with the request to transfer its contents to a new device.

While doing this, Angot discovered the footage on the phone involving Valbuena and, according to prosecutors, proceeded to explore ways to blackmail Valbuena with threats to publish, including approaching one of Benzema's childhood friends, Karim Zenati, who prosecutors say enlisted Benzema's help to reach Valbuena.

Valbuena received several calls in June 2015 warning of the potential exposure of the footage, which he reported to police, who began to investigate the case, partly by way of the deployment of an undercover agent codenamed "Luka."

In October 2015, while the French team was gathered at its national training center at Clairefontaine, just west of Paris, Benzema went to see Valbuena in his room, telling his teammate that he could introduce him to a "trustworthy person" to help him "manage" the potential publication of a compromising video.

"Be careful, these are very, very heavy criminals," Benzema is reported to have told Valbuena, in what he would later claim was merely an attempt to help his teammate.

However, Benzema then contacted his friend Zenati and told him in a phone call wiretapped by police: "He's not taking us seriously."

Prosecutors say that the use of the word "us" proves that Benzema saw himself as part of the blackmail scheme, while Valbuena said later that the conversation left him with the feeling that he was "being played for a fool".

Benzema and Valbuena in international exile

The maximum sentence in France for complicity in attempted blackmail is five years in prison and a fine of €70,000 ($81,000). Benzema has argued that the undercover police officer "Luka" used dishonest methods to draw him into the affair, which cost both players their place in France's squad for the 2016 European Championships on home soil and the 2018 World Cup in Russia, which Les Bleus won.

Benzema called his international exile "racist" but was reinstated for this year's postponed Euro 2020, at which he scored four goals. He also scored in France's 2-1 Nations League final win over Spain earlier this month, with coach Didier Deschamps saying: "He's no longer the same person; he's matured."

Valbuena, who was playing for Russian side Dynamo Moscow at the time of the alleged affair, hasn't played for the French national team since and now plays for Greek team Olympiacos.

Bayern Munich defender Hernandez also facing jail time

Meanwhile, Benzema's France teammate Lucas Hernandez has been told he has until October 28 to voluntarily enter a Spanish prison to begin serving a six-month sentence for breaching a restraining order.

A Madrid court handed down the sentence for breaching an order prohibiting him from contacting his then-girlfriend and now wife over a 2017 incident.

The 25-year-old signed for German champions Bayern Munich two years ago in a record €80-million transfer from Atletico Madrid. With his appeal to a higher court pending, Hernandez was expected to be in the lineup for Bayern's Champions League match against Benfica on Wednesday.

mf/pfd (AFP,dpa)