Lawyers for Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema dismissed allegations on Friday that he tried to blackmail teammate Mathieu Valbuena with a sex tape, saying the prosecution was motivated by media interest in the case.
The verdict will be announced on November 24.
On the last day of the hearing, held at the Palace of Versailles outside Paris, Benzema's lawyers claimed that prosecutors had failed to provide evidence that the accomplice star had attempted blackmail.
"In this case, one can ask what the French are really interested in? sex? money? football? In any case it is not a judicial element," attorney Antoine Vey told the court, adding that the prosecution's case was built around Valbuena's "feelings."
Speaking to the judge, he added: "It's never too late to enact the law. You are the last guarantee. ”
Another lawyer in Benzema, Sylvain Cormier, criticized the "media justice circus."
Prosecutors demanded a 10-month suspended sentence and a fine of 75,000 euros ($87,000) on Thursday for the 33-year-old France international, who did not appear in court for three days of hearings beginning Wednesday.
Benzema, who is expected to play Barcelona at Clasico this weekend, was one of five people on trial in 2015 for stealing pornographic video from a Valbuena phone.
Testifying on Wednesday's trial opening day, Valbuena said the incident — he and Benzema were excluded from the national team — made him "scared" and terrified of his career.
Benzema claimed he was only trying to help his teammates when he contacted him in October 2015 about the sex tape at the France training center and told him he could help him find someone to "manage" the video problem.
Prosecutors claim Benzema is working with other defendants, including a childhood friend in his hometown of Lyon.
In a wiretapping conversation, he told the friend, who was accused of acting as an intermediary for alleged extortionists, that "he didn't take us seriously."
Prosecutors claim this suggests Benzema was complicit, but his lawyer said Friday that the exchanges showed the footballer was "not an example of complete repentance" in the conversation.