June 19 – The trial of French football stars Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema over claims they paid for sex with an under-age call girl has been adjourned for procedural reasons until next year. The case was postponed on constitutional grounds after the intervention of Carlo Alberto Brusa, a lawyer for Bayern Munich’s Ribery and Real Madrid’s Benzema.
The tale of their alleged relationship with Zahia Deha was widely publicised back home and globally ahead of the 2010 World Cup where France performed disastrously, prompting considerable soul-searching. She even appeared on the cover of Paris Match magazine.
Dehar is alleged to have lied to Ribéry and Benzema about her age while Brusa claims his clients believed she had reached the legal age of consent.
Neither Dehar nor the two players appeared in court. Ribéry said he would take advantage of a law that allows defendants to be represented by their lawyer, because there was “no victim” and “no accusation” since Dehar had dropped her suit as a civil plaintiff.
If convicted, the players could be sentenced to up to three years in prison and fined €45,000.
The trial was adjourned until January 20, 2014, allowing time for the issue to be put to a higher court and possibly passed to the supreme court. In France, paying for sex is not illegal but underage prostitution is. Ribery and Benzema’s legal team had called for the case to be dropped, re-iterating their clients did not know Dehar was a minor.