Karim Benzema and Franck Ribery on trial over sex underage prostitute claim by Zahia Dehar

The trial of French footballers Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema, charged with having sex with an underage prostitute, has begun in Paris.

At the opening of the Paris trial, Ribery’s lawyer Carlo-Alberto Bruso said: “There was nothing about her that suggested a vulnerable person. She is a woman always made-up, with her hair done and well dressed.”

He said under age sex laws were too “imprecise” to prosecute the players. The age of consent in France is 15, and prostitution is legal, but only if both parties are over 18.

She is now a celebrity in France, having appeared on numerous reality TV shows and started her own lingerie range.

Benzema denies any sexual relationship with Dehar who shopped him to police investigating a Paris vice ring.

(FILES) Images of French international footballers Franck Ribery and Karim Benzema (L) and a picture of French designer Zahia Dehar taken in Paris on July 3, 2013. Benzema and Ribery will go on trial in Paris on January 20, 2014 for soliciting Zahia Dehar, a minor, for prostitution.

Karim Benzema (French footballer)

Zahia Dehar (French designer)

Franck Ribery (French footballer)