Real Madrid's French striker Karim Benzema has filed a lawsuit against a far-right politician over tweets linking him to militants from the Islamic State.
The French newspaper, Le Parisien, said that Benzema had filed a lawsuit against politician Damien Rio, an activist in the "Reconquest" party led by former presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, and was a member of the National Rally (extreme right) party led by Marine Le Pen. .
And the newspaper pointed out that Rio published on October 23, 2020, a tweet that included a picture of Benzema accompanied by an imam named Noureddine Mamoun, and attached it to this comment, “It is interesting to discover that Benzema meets Imam Noureddine Mamoun, who was just raided. Justice should also take care of financing mosques Brune (the region from which Benzema hails).
The newspaper pointed out that the raid that Rio talked about was carried out 3 days after the assassination of the French teacher Samuel Baty, and indicated that the raid did not lead to Mamoun being brought to trial.
Intéressant de découvrir que @benzema fréquente l'imam Nourdine Mamoune qui vient d'être perquisitionné… 😏
Vivement que la Justice s'intéresse aussi au financement des mosquées de #Bron.
pic.twitter.com/avP63nTct1
— Damien Rieu (@DamienRieu) October 23, 2020
In another tweet on November 22, 2020, Damien Rio published a picture of Benzema raising his index finger, and next to it he posted pictures of ISIS militants with the same sign, and attached the tweet to this comment, "I think Benzema wants to send us a message."
Je crois que @Benzema veut nous faire passer un message.
pic.twitter.com/yLOmuLHrD8
— Damien Rieu (@DamienRieu) November 22, 2020
The French newspaper said that Benzema's lawyer, Sylvian Cormier, posted at the time a tweet directed at French President Emmanuel Macron and Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, in which he wrote, "Far-right activist Damien Lefevre (the real name of Damien Rio) fuels hatred, his latest tweet likening Karim Benzema to a terrorist. Should we wait? Another tragedy before we see a reaction?
The lawyer filed a lawsuit accusing the French politician of public defamation, and Damien Riot received a summons to appear before a court in Lyon on May 23.
Rio posted the summons on Twitter, and said, "Karim wants to force silence on me...They told him I won all my trials."
Karim veut me faire taire… dites lui que j'ai gagné tous mes procès 🤗 pic.twitter.com/ZY2swZgoks
— Damien Rieu (@DamienRieu) May 3, 2022
While Rio's lawyer expected not to settle the case before the beginning of next year, Karim Benzema's lawyer refused to comment on the case after Le Parisien contacted him.
The French newspaper described Rio as "extremely active on social networks", and said he was previously convicted for entering the rooftop of a mosque in Poitiers in 2012 with other activists, and for participating in anti-immigrant activity in the Alps in 2018. In both cases, he was acquitted on appeal. .