Something promised, something due. Through his lawyer, Me Hugues Vigier, Karim Benzema announced his intention to file a complaint against the Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, the latter having accused the former Real Madrid player of being in a “notorious connection” with the Muslim Brotherhood. It was mid-October. Defamation or public insult? This still remained to be determined. “It is not acceptable for those who govern to believe they are authorized to do anything out of pure opportunism,” added Me Vigier in Le Parisien. Three months later, Benzema made good on his threat.
Questioned on RTL radio this Tuesday, the said lawyer Hugues Vigier confirms that his client has filed a complaint for defamation before the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), the only French jurisdiction which allows crimes or offenses committed to be judged. by members of government in the exercise of their functions. RTLevokes “a complaint of 92 pages, including 80 annexes”. For the rest, Karim Benzema reveals his argument and recalls that he is in no way linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. “He never had the slightest relationship with this organization. He also chose to live in (Saudi) Arabia, which declared the said terrorist organization, which France has never done,” said last October, the lawyer for the 36-year-old former French international. , under contract to Al-Ittihad.
Me Hugues Vigier takes stock on RTL: “We are throwing people out like this, to general opprobrium, just to create a false communication stunt. With family consequences for those close to him as well which are considerable. We are sowing division in France, we have a lot of people who don’t understand this kind of talk, some who exclude Karim Benzema and some who feel excluded through what we say about him. This is the complete opposite of what a man who calls himself a politician should work towards.”
Let us recall that Mr. Darmanin spoke following a message on neither women nor children. The Minister of the Interior had reiterated his remarks on several occasions, considering for example that the former Lyonnais tweets “selectively” or qualifying him as a “proxy” of radical Islam. Public defamation of a private person or group of private people is punishable by a fine of €12,000.
