Benzema's complaint against Darmanin for linking him to Muslim Brotherhood dismissed

The French judiciary decided on Thursday to dismiss the defamation complaint filed by footballer Karim Benzema against the country's interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, for claiming that the striker had links with the Islamist group Muslim Brotherhood.

The Court of Cassation understood that the "remarks" denounced "do not impute any fact likely to undermine his honour or reputation", according to the prosecutor assigned to the court, Remy Heitz, in statements reported by the public channel 'FranceInfo'.

Darmanin's comments were made in an interview with the 'CNews' channel on 16th October, a few days after the attack by the armed wing of the Islamist organisation Hamas against Israel on 7th October.

The French player of Algerian descent had posted on social media a message of support for the victims in Gaza of "unjust bombings" carried out by Israel in retaliation, and the French interior minister linked that positioning to alleged links of the 2022 Ballon d'Or winner with the Muslim Brotherhood.

"As we all know, Karim Benzema has notorious links with the Muslim Brotherhood," Darmanin said.

The former Real Madrid star, who now plays in Saudi Arabia, also sued far-right politician Eric Zemmour for defamation in France in January over statements linking him to Islamist killings in France.