French football stars investigated over sex claims
Two French football internationals have been placed under judicial investigation over claims they solicited sex with an under-age prostitute, the Paris public prosecutor's office has said.
The move against Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema is the first stage of criminal proceedings that can lead to charges.
They were held as part of a probe into an alleged under-age prostitution ring.
Both players denied any wrongdoing.
The two men were questioned at the request of an investigating magistrate looking into allegations that a Paris nightclub gave access to under-age girls working as prostitutes.
The pair were freed after questioning in Paris on Tuesday.
One of the women who is alleged to have met clients at the club while she was under age, Zahia Dehar, has already told investigators that she had been paid for sex with the two players.
Speaking in front of the police station where Mr Ribery was questioned, his lawyer said her client had had no idea the woman was under 18 when he had paid for sex with her in 2009.
"It is an intentional offence, he would have to know her age, which wasn't the case," Sophie Bottai said.
"She would have to look like a minor, which wasn't the case; she would have to tell him she was a minor, which wasn't the case, since all over the press she claimed that she was an adult and that she was more than 20 years old."
Under-age sex illegalUnder French law, paid sex with someone under the age of 18 is regarded as sex with a minor - even if the general age of consent is 15 - and punishable by three years in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros (£38,000).
Ms Dehar, now 18, said she never told her age either to Mr Ribery, who plays for Bayern Munich, or Mr Benzema, a Real Madrid player.
Mr Benzema has previously denied any wrongdoing through his lawyer.
Earlier this year, police launched a raid on a Champs-Elysees nightclub called the Zaman Cafe and detained 18 girls on suspicion of prostitution.
Ms Dehar was not among them, although her name was already known to investigators, who had been carrying out phone taps on the cafe's managers, says the BBC's Hugh Schofield.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-10696242============================================================================================
法球星被控嫖褻未成年雛妓法國球星列貝利和賓施馬，被巴黎檢方落案控以嫖褻未成年雛妓，最高可判監3年和罰款4.5萬歐元。
整個「雛妓門」事件據稱涉及多名法國球星，在南非世界盃擔當國家隊左路核心的列貝利，只是當中的「第一男主角」。
列貝利的22歲小舅也同時被拘控。有目擊者稱，列貝利到達警局時戴著手銬。3人於周二在警局逗留7小時，暫時獲准假釋。
案情指出，效力拜仁慕尼黑、27歲的列貝利承認，曾與一位名叫扎西婭（Zahia Dehar）的應召女郎發生關係，並出錢請她到球會所在地拜仁州旅行。但他聲稱，事發時並不知道扎西婭未成年。
因此調查人員正在調查，列貝利是否親自為她預訂前往拜仁的機票，如果他親自訂票，就必定知道扎西婭的年齡。
法國警方在數月前，突擊搜查巴黎一間球員經常光顧的夜總會，揭發多名球員涉嫌違法召雛妓，但因為臨近世界盃，待賽事結束才展開正式調查。
扎西婭其後向八卦雜誌表示，她曾「服務」過的球星，包括列貝利、賓施馬，當時她還未滿18歲；成年之後，也曾為里昂翼鋒高禾提供過性服務。
法國國家隊在南非世界盃一敗塗地，加上發生「內訌風波」，已廣遭國人唾罵。法國國務秘書阿瑪拉周二表示，對多名國腳捲入「召妓門」表示遺憾，指列貝利等人沒有對法國年輕人展示良好的榜樣。
http://hk.news.yahoo.com/article/100721/4/j9m7.html
