2023-10-20 13:17:25
Latest episode of the mano a mano between the ex-Real Madrid star and the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin affirmed Thursday evening that he would withdraw his comments accusing Karim Benzema of being “in notorious links with the Muslim Brotherhood” if the 2022 Ballon d’Or “tweeted” to “also cry” the assassination of the French teacher from Arras by a radicalized young person.
Mr. Darmanin criticized the former international (97 caps) of “tweeting selectively”. A reference to Karim Benzema’s Sunday message addressing “all (his) prayers for the inhabitants of Gaza who are once again victims of these unjust bombings which spare neither women nor children”, without mention of the Israeli victims of Hamas.
“If Mr. Benzema wants to show his good faith, that he is capable (…) of showing in front of 20 million people who follow him (on X, formerly Twitter), that he also mourns the death of this professor, I will withdraw my remarks,” declared Mr. Darmanin.
These comments stunned PS First Secretary Olivier Faure. “A Minister of the Interior can accuse publicly and without evidence? Then justify himself on the haphazard basis of tweets posted or not? We are leaving the rule of law to enter the era of suspicion,” he reacted. on X.
“The Minister of the Interior, he has nothing else to do than read Benzema’s tweets?”, added ecologist Sandrine Rousseau on Friday on Franceinfo while Alexis Corbière (LFI) opined on France 2 that Gérald Darmanin had invented “facies tweet control”.
To support his remarks, Gérald Darmanin relies, according to those around him, on “a slow drift in Karim Benzema’s positions towards a hard, rigorous Islam, characteristic of the Brotherhood ideology”, with in particular “proselytism on the networks social around Muslim worship, such as fasting, prayer, pilgrimage to Mecca.
The 35-year-old defended himself via his lawyer.
“Praying on October 15 for civilian populations under bombs which spare neither women nor children obviously constitutes neither ‘propaganda for Hamas’, nor ‘complicity in terrorism nor acts of collaboration’,” argued Mr. Hugues Vigier.
Karim Benzema “never had the slightest relationship” with the Muslim Brotherhood, insisted the lawyer who plans to file a complaint against Mr. Darmanin and right-wing and far-right politicians who have become engulfed in the controversy like Eric Zemmour (Reconquest!) or Nadine Morano (LR).
Considered a legend in Spain, “KB9” has never had the same popularity in France for multiple controversies, including his involvement in blackmailing the sex tape of his teammate in the selection Mathieu Valbuena. He has long been a target of the far right, questioning the patriotism of the international, born in Lyon to Algerian parents.
This accusation has regained strength since his departure last summer for Saudi Arabia, a country where the Muslim Brotherhood is classified as a terrorist organization but also known for its rigorous practice of Islam – where the Frenchman told L’ Team appreciates living one’s faith “while being in the truth”.
While judging that “the accusation of Mr. Benzema, who no longer even lives in France, is a diversion”, the leader of the deputies of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, in turn criticized him on Friday for having “obviously a pandering to the most radical Islamism.”
In September, the president of the RN Jordan Bardella qualified him as a “fellow traveler of Islamism” for having appeared in traditional Saudi dress, on that country’s national holiday, like other stars.
Another criticism frequently expressed is the fact of not singing the Marseillaise in selection.
The player defended himself by claiming that he had no obligation to do so and received the support of Michel Platini, emphasizing that the French team of the 80s did not sing the national anthem without ever being criticized. .
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