“Karim Benzema is, as we all know, notoriously linked to the Muslim Brotherhood. » Gérald Darmanin ignited social networks after accusing Karim Benzema of being linked to the Islamist organization born in Egypt, which the Ballon d’Or vigorously denied on Wednesday through his lawyer, Hugues Vigier.
“This is false!” Karim Benzema has never had the slightest relationship with this organization”, reacted in a press release Me Vigier, in response to the comments made by the Minister of the Interior Monday evening on CNews. Gérald Darmanin spoke following the publication on X (formerly Twitter) of the football international addressing “all [ses] prayers for the inhabitants of Gaza who are once again victims of these unjust bombings which spare no women or children”.
“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””replied the player’s lawyer. “It is, I want to believe, natural compassion in the face of what many today describe as war crimes being committed in Gaza, but which does not take away anything from the horror of the terrorist acts of October 7, which is not discussed »added Hugues Vigier, referring to the possible filing of a complaint against Mr. Darmanin for defamation or public insult.
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According to the lawyer, “we are once again witnessing an intolerable exploitation of Karim Benzema and the “symbolic figure” that we like to attribute to him”. Throughout his career, Karim Benzema, 35, considered one of the best strikers of his generation, has regularly been the target of political criticism, particularly from the right and the far right.
Darmanin’s entourage speaks of “a slow drift”
Questioned by Agence France-Presse about a possible legal action by the minister, Gérald Darmanin’s entourage responded that the “positions” of the player “were not subject to legal proceedings”. ” Moreit was added, they constitute a particularly vague signal from an athlete benefiting from such an audience. »
“For several years, we have noted a slow drift in Karim Benzema’s positions towards a harsh, rigorous Islam, characteristic of the Brotherhood ideology consisting of disseminating Islamic norms in different spaces of society, particularly in sport”we continued in the minister’s entourage.
The player’s refusal to sing was cited The Marseillaise during selections for the French team, his “proselytism on social networks around Muslim worship, such as fasting, prayer, pilgrimage to Mecca” or his “support for the publication of Russian MMA fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, a real call to hatred following the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad in the French press”.
The Minister of the Interior’s comments come in a context marked by high tensions in the Middle East, which has led to a toughening of the immigration bill.
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