French soccer sensation Karim Benzema has initiated legal action with a defamation lawsuit against France’s interior minister, following accusations of his alleged ties to the Muslim Brotherhood, as per local media reports.
In October, Gérald Darmanin stated that Mr. Benzema has a “notorious link” with the Sunni Muslim Islamist group.
Mr. Benzema’s lawyer argued that this statement “damages” his client’s honor and reputation.
The Muslim Brotherhood is prohibited in multiple countries, including Egypt, Russia, and Saudi Arabia.
Mr Darmanin’s comment in October came after the player tweeted his support for the people of Gaza as “victims again of unjust bombardments which spare neither women nor children”.
Noting his failure to express similar sympathy for the estimated 1,300 Israeli victims that Hamas killed on 7 October, Mr Darmanin said the former French striker was “well-known for his links with the Muslim Brotherhood”.
“We are fighting the hydra that is the Muslim Brotherhood, because it creates an atmosphere of jihadism,” the politician told conservative TV channel CNews.
Karim Benzema, aged 36 and currently playing in Saudi Arabia, promptly refuted the accusation and warned of legal consequences against the minister for making slanderous statements.
In his 92-page complaint, reported widely in French media on Tuesday, he 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”.
The former Real Madrid star added: “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.”
His lawyer Hugues Vigier told French outlet RTL that the footballer is the victim of “political exploitation” and accused the interior minister of “sowing division in France”.
Mr Darmanin is yet to comment on the complaint.
He has previously targeted Karim Benzema for other reasons, including his refusal to sing the French national anthem and his “proselytising on social networks”.
Founded approximately 80 years ago in Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood has served as the ideological basis for numerous contemporary Islamist organizations, including Hamas. Operating primarily as an ideological movement without a formal structure, it is banned in several countries, although most of the European Union does not impose restrictions on it.
In Europe, the group’s influence is mainly observed through front organizations advocating for Islamic causes, such as supporting the right of women to wear head-coverings.