French First Lady Brigitte Macron in Paris on November 13, 2015. LUDOVIC MARIN / AP
A Paris court found Monday, January 5, 10 people guilty of cyber-harassing France's First Lady Brigitte Macron. The court pointed to "particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious" comments referring to false claims regarding alleged trans identity and alleged pedo criminality targeting Brigitte Macron.
Eight defendants were handed suspended sentences of four to eight months in prison, a ninth man was sentenced to six months in prison over his absence from the hearing, and a tenth person was ordered to follow a course against hate speech online.
The defendants, eight men and two women aged 41 to 65, were accused of posting "numerous malicious comments" falsely claiming that President Emmanuel Macron's wife was born a man and linking the 24-year age gap with her husband to pedophilia. Some of the posts were viewed tens of thousands of times.
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.
