Bayern Munich and Real
Madrid stars to go on trial for
paying for sex in 2008 and 2009
with prostitute , then a minor .
French footballers Franck Ribery
and Karim Benzema , accused of
paying for sex with an underage
call girl, will go on trial in Paris
after being investigated for two
years .
Bayern Munich winger Ribery
and Real Madrid striker
Benzema are to stand trial on
Tuesday on allegations of paying
Zahia Dehar, then a minor , for
sex in 2008 and 2009 .
Ribery ' s lawyer , Carlo - Alberto
Brusa , said his client was
innocent and should not be
expected to show up in court.
" In French law , it ' s not forbidden
to make love to a woman and
even to pay her for it , what is
forbidden is to do it with a
minor , " he told Reuters. " When a
woman travels around Europe by
plane, can you imagine thinking
for one second that she ' s a
minor ?"
Ribery has acknowledged the
encounter but said he did not
know she was underage , nor that
she was a prostitute . He said he
only gave her 200 euros for a taxi
ride to the airport .
The trial is expected to run until
June 26 .
The scandal , which exposed
footballers ' tastes for flings and
partying , came ahead of the 2010
World Cup , further damaging the
image of a French squad already
tarnished by internal bickering,
public tantrums and defeats .
Possible sentences
Algerian - born Dehar, now 21, has
since become designer Karl
Lagerfeld' s muse and protegee ,
launching her own lingerie line.
The footballers could be
sentenced to up to three years in
jail and fines of $ 60 , 000 if found
guilty of soliciting the services of
an underage prostitute .
According to court documents ,
Dehar had been a prostitute since
the age of 15 or 16 , but would tell
clients she was 18 .
She said she was flown in from
Paris to Munich in 2009 for
Ribery ' s 26 th birthday party in a
luxury hotel , and that he paid her
700 euros for sex .


http://m.aljazeera.com/story/201361853037503652

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