An alleged blackmailer in the Karim Benzema sex-tape scandal insists the Real Madrid striker is innocent of any wrongdoing.
Benzema was forced to miss Euro 2016 after France suspended him from international football earlier in the year for his alleged involvement in the blackmail plot, yet Mustapha Zouaoui, one of the said perpetrators in the case, made it clear the 28-year-old’s intentions were honest.
“He made a mistake, he just wanted to warn Valbuena about the existence of a sex tape,” he told L’Equipe.
“[Benzema] really felt bad [when I told him about the video]. He told me Valbuena was very fragile and that he could kill himself. Even he didn’t want to see it.
“It was there [acting as a mediator] when Benzema made the mistake.
“Valbuena asked [Benzema], ‘did you see tattoos’, and Benzema replied, ‘you think I’m kidding? A guy came up to me, told me about the video and gave details about what you did. Frankly, it’s horrible’.
“The police treated it as a declaration of a criminal, when Karim wanted to help Valbuena.
“Benzema is very angry with me, but I didn’t put him in this on purpose. I didn’t know [the authorities] had our wires tapped.”
