French prosecutors on Thursday said they were seeking a 10-month suspended sentence for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema for alleged complicity in an attempt to blackmail former France team-mate Mathieu Valbuena with a sex tape, reports FRANCE 24.
Benzema is one of five people on trial over the 2015 extortion attempt, which led to him being dropped from the national team for five-and-a-half years.
The 33-year-old player, who scored for Real in a Champions League match in Ukraine on Tuesday, is not attending the proceedings in Versailles outside Paris.
He has denied the allegations, saying he tried to help Valbuena get out of the situation, not entrap him.
"Benzema is not a good Samaritan who tried to help. He acted to allow the negotiators to reach their aim and the blackmailers to obtain money," prosecutor Segolène Mares told the court. She also asked the court to fine him 75,000 euros.
Earlier this year Benzema made a successful comeback to the national line-up for the European championships but Valbuena, who also lost his Les Bleus spot over the affair, was never picked again.
Testifying on the opening day of the trial Wednesday, Valbuena said the affair had left him feeling "frightened" and fearful for his career.
"I knew if the video came out things would be difficult for me in the French team, as was proven to be the case later."
The alleged mastermind of the blackmail attempt, Mustapha Zouaoui, expressed regret on Thursday.
"I apologise from the bottom of my heart," he told the midfielder, who plays with Greek club Olympiakos, in court.