REACTION
The decision paves the way for a possible correctional trial for Karim Benzema. Monday, the French Court of Cassation dismissed the appeal of the striker of Real Madrid, which challenged the fairness of the investigation into the case of blackmail sex sextape Mathieu Valbuena in 2015, in which he is indicted. "A very important stop," responds Frédéric Thiriez, Mathieu Valbuena's lawyer, at the microphone of Europe 1.
"The judges of Versailles will be seized again"
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. During the investigation, a commissioner of the Versailles PJ did in fact pass for several months for a negotiator sent by Mathieu Valbuena.
This policeman will have contacts only Younes Houass, a man then gravitating in the middle of football and who has always challenged any attempt at blackmail. And the Court of Cassation found that the methods of investigation used in this case were in conformity.
The policeman "was not disloyal in providing evidence"
"In the present case, the Court of Cassation remarks that the policeman merely played the role of intermediary and that he was not unfair in the supply of evidence," said Frederic Thiriez. According to the former boss of the professional football league, the decision of the court is "a very important decision, which I hope will reassure the judicial police".
"The examining magistrates of Versailles will be seized again, then they will decide whether or not to close the investigation", continues Frédéric Thiriez, "after which there will eventually be a referral to the court Corrections ".