France Prosecution rejected Benzema's appeal

Valbuena tells judge: Benzema made me fearful

The Court of Cassation is set to take their final decision on behalf of Mathieu Valbuena on July 11, rejecting the appeal of Karim Benzema and his childhood friend Karim Zenati regarding the validity of the evidence on their alleged blackmailing attempt.

In mid-December, the Court of Versailles validated the eavesdropping between an anonymous person who contacted Valbuena - telling him that there was a sexual video in which he appeared - and a policeman who posed as a mediator.

During the appeal hearing Benzema and Zenati's lawyer, Patrice Spinosi, questioned the involvement of the police officer, claiming that he 'played a very active role' and denouncing a 'provocation to infringement'.

This argument was termed 'absurd' by Valbuena's defence attorney, Frédéric Thiriez, former president of the French Professional Football League (LFP), who stated that the offence had already taken place before the police intervention, which took place on 20 June 2015.

Understanding that there wasn't 'an unfair intervention' at any time, prosecutor Patrick Bonnet rejected the appeal of the defendants and validated the eavesdropping.

The event goes back to June 2015, when Valbuena received an anonymous call being asked to reach an economic agreement - without specifying the amount to pay - in exchange for not publishing the content of the tape.