Karim Benzema, the French footballer who currently plays for Saudi Arabian club Al-Ittihad, has filed a defamation lawsuit against France’s minister of the interior Gerald Darmanin.
This comes in response after Darmanin on October 15, 2023, accused Benzema of having “a notorious link” with the Muslim Brotherhood, which is a Sunni Muslim Islamist group.
Speaking to French TV channel CNews, Darmanin said, “We have closed 1,100 Islamist establishments. And in recent weeks, I’ve been particularly interested, Benzema is linked, we all know it, notoriously with the Muslim Brotherhood.”
The Muslim Brotherhood is recognized as a terrorist organization in several countries including the UAE, Bahrain, Austria, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
Darmanin’s remark came after the Benzema posted on X his support for the people of Gaza in the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“All our prayers for the inhabitants of Gaza who are once again victims of these unjust bombings which spare no women or children,” Benzema wrote on X on October 15.
On Tuesday, January 16, Benzema filed a complaint with the Cour de Justice lodged by lawyer Hugues Vigier, and seen by the AFP.
In his complaint, Benzema says he “has never had the slightest link with the Muslim Brotherhood organisation, nor to his knowledge with anyone who claims to be a member of it”, AFP reported.
“I am aware of the extent to which, because of my notoriety, I am being used in political games, which are all the more scandalous given that the dramatic events since October 7 deserve something quite different from this type of statement,” he added.
Benzema is not the only player who has faced criticism and harassment for supporting Palestinians.