A Paris court delivers a verdict for 10 people accused of cyber-harassing France’s first lady with false claims about her gender and identity.
PARIS: A Paris court on Monday gives its verdict in the trial of 10 people accused of cyber-harassment of President Emmanuel Macron’s wife Brigitte (pic) by spreading false information about her gender and insinuations related to the age difference between the first couple.
The relationship between Emmanuel Macron, 48, and Brigitte, 72, who met while she was a drama teacher at his school, has been the subject of intense interest since he became president in 2017.
But in recent years this scrutiny has extended to the widespread publication of false information which the first couple have resolved not to ignore and instead combat in court.
They have filed a defamation lawsuit in the United Stares against right-wing US podcaster Candace Owens who falsely claimed the spouse of the French president used to be a man.
The Paris trial, a separate case, concerns 10 defendants from different walks of life aged between 41 and 65 who risk suspended sentences of three to 12 months and fines of up to 8,000 euros ($ 9,300) if convicted.
Brigitte Macron herself did not appear at the trial hearings on October but told investigators after filing her complaint that the claim she is a transgender woman has “strongly affected” her and her loved ones.
‘Image distorted’
Tiphaine Auziere, 41, Brigitte Macron’s younger daughter from her first marriage, told the trial in rare public comments that the unsubstantiated claims had harmed the French first lady’s health.
“She’s constantly having to pay attention to what she wears, how she holds herself because she knows that her image can be distorted,” she said.
Prosecutors sought the heaviest sentence against Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, 41, a commentator known on social media as “Zoe Sagan” and often linked to conspiracy theory circles.
Prosecutors requested a 12-month suspended prison sentence, an 8,000 euro fine and a six-month suspension of his social media accounts.
In court in October, he defended his right to what he called “satire”.
Another of the most prominent defendants, gallery owner Bertrand Scholler, 56, said that the trial was targeting his “freedom to think” faced with the “media deep state”.
Prosecutors requested a six-month suspended sentence, 3,000 euro fine, and the immediate suspension of Scholler’s social media accounts for six months.
Also on trial is a woman already the subject of a libel complaint filed by Brigitte Macron in 2022: Delphine J., 51, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium who goes by the pseudonym Amandine Roy.
For Delphine J., prosecutors sought a six-month suspended jail term, a 4,000 euro fine and the suspension of her online accounts, also for half a year.
Centre of attention
While these three defendants are regarded as the main instigators of spreading the false information, the other seven were presented by prosecutors as “followers” who had “let themselves go” from “their sofa”, some having simply shared or liked a few posts.
Emerging as early as Macron’s election in 2017, the claims have been amplified by far-right and conspiracy theorist circles in France and in the United States, where transgender rights have become a hot-button issue at the heart of American culture wars.
In the US case against Owens, who produced a series titled “Becoming Brigitte”, the Macrons are planning to offer “scientific” evidence and photos proving that the first lady is not transgender, according to their US lawyer.
Several of those on trial in Paris shared posts from the US influencer.
Brigitte Macron was at the centre of a new furore in December when she was filmed describing as “stupid bitches” (“sales connes” in French) activists who disrupted a stand-up show of a French actor who had been accused of rape.
A woman in 2021 accused the actor, Ary Abittan, of rape but in 2023 investigators dropped the case, citing lack of evidence.
Brigitte Macron later apologised for using the slur saying “I am sorry if I hurt women victims,” while calling the remarks “private” comments.
