Paris (AFP)

The Court of Cassation dismissed on Monday Karim Benzema's appeal challenging the loyalty of the investigation into the blackmail affair at Mathieu Valbuena's sextape in 2015, in which the Real Madrid striker was indicted.

The Court found that the investigative methods used in this case were consistent, paving the way for a possible criminal trial for Karim Benzema and five other indicted persons.

In June 2015, the footballer Mathieu Valbuena had filed a complaint, considering himself the victim of an attempted blackmail after receiving a call informing him of the existence of a sextape in which he appeared.

Karim Benzema, indicted for "complicity in attempted blackmail" on his former teammate in France, challenged the investigation methods of a police officer who intervened undercover in this case.

The highest judicial court, meeting in plenary, estimated Monday that there was no "breach of fairness".

In July 2017, she had, on the contrary, given reason to the star Madrid but the Court of Appeal of Paris, appointed to rule again, had not followed and the player had then again provided cassation.

This time, the decision is not subject to a new appeal, which means that the file will return to the office of the investigating judge in Versailles. The latter will then have to decide on the holding of a possible trial.

"Obviously, it's a disappointment," responded to the AFP lawyer Karim Benzema, Patrice Spinosi. "There is something schizophrenic in the fact that the Court of Cassation says the opposite of what it said two years ago, yet Karim Benzema has never feared having to face his judges before they will explain why he is not involved in this case, if he is sent to court, "he added.

On the contrary, Frédéric Thiriez, who defends the interests of Mathieu Valbuena, said he was "very satisfied": "This plenary decision goes far beyond this particular sextape affair. victims, to the judicial police to use their investigative techniques to search for and arrest alleged perpetrators of crimes. "

Since this affair, the two players have never been selected again in the French team.

© 2019 AFP