A French prosecutor has requested a jail sentence of two years and six months, including 18 months suspended, against French soccer star Wissam Ben Yedder after he went on trial for sexually assaulting a woman last month.
The prosecutor said the firm prison term could be adaptable and Ben Yedder's lawyers are confident he will escape jail even if he is convicted, lawyer Marie Roumiantseva told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Ben Yedder remained free ahead of Tuesday's hearing in the southern city of Nice after he was accused of sexual assault while intoxicated.
“Although not a single day in prison against Ben Yedder has been asked for, the requisitions are very harsh for facts that are both legally questionable and not very serious,” Roumiantseva said.
The court will hand down its decision on Nov. 12.
The hearing took place after a woman filed a lawsuit against Ben Yedder for sexual assault last month.
The 34-year-old Ben Yedder, a prolific striker who has also played for the national team, was briefly detained then released after the incident in his car on the French Riviera. He was arrested at his home later that night after he first refused to stop his car.
After his arrest, Ben Yedder — who has since started alcohol detox and therapy — admitted he drove while under the influence. He said during the trial he was so drunk he has no recollection of any kind of sexual assault.
Ben Yedder's legal team hopes for an acquittal on the sexual offence, which it claims has not been established.
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Frank Michel, said during the trial that she was in a “state of shock” and asked for 25,000 euros ($27,225) in damages, L'Equipe newspaper reported.
The prosecution also asked for Ben Yedder's driving license to be suspended for six months.
In a separate legal case last year, Ben Yedder was charged with rape, attempted rape and sexual assault over another alleged incident in the south of France.
Ben Yedder has been without a club since his contract with Monaco expired at the end of last season.
He scored 16 goals with three assists in the French league last season to help Monaco finish second behind Paris Saint-Germain. In five seasons with Monaco, he scored 118 goals in 201 appearances in all competitions to become the club’s second-highest scorer behind retired Argentine striker Delio Onnis (223).
Ben Yedder has 19 caps for France, the last of which came in June 2022.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
FILE - Monaco's Wissam Ben Yedder celebrates scoring his second goal during a French League One soccer match between Lyon and Monaco at the Groupama stadium in Decines, outside Lyon, France, April 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Wednesday his plan to win his country’s fight against Russia’s invasion could bring peace next year, but it contains a step that some crucial Western allies have so far refused to countenance: inviting Ukraine to join NATO before the war ends.
“If we start moving according to this victory plan now, it may be possible to end the war no later than next year,” Zelenskyy told his country’s parliament.
He has recently been trying to win approval for the plan from Western partners, who so far have stopped short of publicly voicing their support for it.
The first point in Zelenskyy’s five-point plan that was presented in a speech to the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, is perhaps the most ambitious and the most likely to make Western allies balk: letting Ukraine into NATO while the fighting continues.
Zelenskyy said granting Ukraine membership in the alliance would be a “testament of (allies’) determination” to support Ukraine.
It may, however, be too ambitious a step.
NATO’s collective security guarantee — Article 5 of the military alliance’s treaty — is the pillar on which its credibility is based. It is a political commitment by all member countries to come to the aid of any member whose sovereignty or territory might be under attack.
NATO makes its decisions by consensus, and many allies -– including the United States and Germany -– refuse to allow Ukraine in while fighting continues because they fear being dragged into a wider war with Russia.
At their summit in Washington in July, NATO’s 32 members declared Ukraine on an “irreversible” path to membership in the Western military alliance. Any decision on offering to start membership talks is probably not likely before the next summit in the Netherlands in June.
Ukraine’s troops are having trouble holding back Russia’s military might, especially in the eastern Donetsk region where they are gradually being pushed backward. Though Russia’s gains have been incremental, its steady forward movement is slowly adding up and Ukraine keenly feels the need for more large-scale Western help.
But there are signs that Western support may be waning, diminished by a focus on the Middle East wars and domestic political concerns. The U.S. elections next month could bring a major shift in Ukraine's fortunes, as Washington has been the biggest provider of military aid.
Zelenskyy publicly acknowledged for the first time that in private talks with Ukraine its Western partners are increasingly talking about “negotiations” with Russia and much less frequently use the word “justice” in conversations about the war.
He also dialed up the stakes in Ukraine, repeating his recent claims that North Korea is now sending military personnel to help Russia’s war effort, as well as delivering ammunition, and that Iran and China are also aiding Moscow.
Zelenskyy’s “victory plan” contains confidential sections which he didn’t mention in Parliament, officials said.
Other aspects of the plan include continued striking of targets on Russian soil, including the incursion into Russia’s Kursk border region that began in August and more long-range drone strikes on Russian infrastructure.
Ukraine, he said, also needs more air defense systems and access to a broader range of intelligence from allies.
Zelenskyy noted that Ukraine is rich in natural resources, including critically important metals “worth trillions of U.S. dollars,” such as uranium, titanium, lithium, graphite and others.
Those Ukrainian assets, as well as the country’s agricultural production, are among Russia’s key targets in the war, he said, but could be shared in postwar times with partners.
Also in a postwar period, battle-hardened Ukrainian troops would be an asset for NATO efforts to keep Russia at bay.
Associated Press writer Lorne Cook in Brussels contributed.
Follow AP's coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
FILE - Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Trump Tower, Friday, Sept. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Sept. 26, 2024, in the vice president's ceremonial office inside the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House complex in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
FILE - In this image provided by the Office of the Ukrainian Presidency, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, is watched by Rich Hansen, the commander's representative for the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, while signing military ordnance in Scranton, Pa., Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (Office of the Ukrainian Presidency via AP, File)
FILE - Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly, on Sept. 25, 2024, at UN headquarters. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
FILE - Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrap up a joint press conference on July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
FILE - U.S. President Joe Biden, center, with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, front second left, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, front left, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, front second right, President of Poland Andrzej Duda, right, and other world leaders pose for a family picture of the launching of a Joint Declaration of Support for Ukrainian Recovery and Reconstruction, on Sept. 25, 2024, in New York. (Leon Neal/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a joint press conference during the Crimea Platform summit in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
