Brigitte Macron: the court finds 10 people guilty of cyberharassment First Lady of France – National

On Monday, a Paris court found 10 people guilty of cyberharassment. Brigitte Macronby spreading false claims online about her gender and sexuality, including claims that she was born a man.

One defendant was sentenced to six months in prison, while eight received suspended sentences ranging from four to eight months. All 10 were mandated to complete cyberbullying awareness training.

The court highlighted “particularly degrading, insulting and malicious” comments referring to false allegations concerning an alleged trans identity and alleged child abuse targeting Brigitte Macron. “The repeated publications have had cumulative harmful effects,” the court said.

The defendants, eight men and two women aged 41 to 65, were accused of having published numerous comments falsely claiming that President Emmanuel Macron‘s wife was born a man and compares their 24-year age gap to pedophilia. Some posts have been viewed tens of thousands of times.

Brigitte Macron did not attend the two-day trial in October. Speaking on national television TF1 on Sunday, she said she had launched legal proceedings to “set an example” in the fight against harassment.

His lawyer, Jean Ennochi, said Monday that “what is important is that there is immediate cyberharassment awareness training, and for certain defendants, a ban on using their accounts on social networks.”

Her daughter, Tiphaine Auzière, testified about what she called a “deterioration” in her mother’s life since the online harassment intensified. “She cannot ignore the horrible things said about her,” Auziere told the court. She said the impact extended to the entire family, including Macron’s grandchildren.

One of the defendants, a real estate asset manager, was sentenced to six months in prison. Under French law, the sentence can be served at home, possibly while wearing an ankle monitor or following other requirements set by a judge.

Defendant Delphine Jegousse, 51, known as Amandine Roy and describing herself as a medium and author, is considered to have played a major role in spreading the rumor after broadcasting a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021. She was sentenced to 6 months in prison.

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Aurélien Poirson-Atlan’s Poirson-Atlan was sentenced to 8 months in prison, along with another defendant, a gallery owner.

The only defendant who was not sentenced to prison was a teacher, who apologized during the trial. He will have to complete cyberbullying awareness training.

Many will have their online access suspended for six months on the social networks where they published their messages.

The penalties were proportional to the seriousness of the remarks, the court emphasized.

French judicial authorities have not released the names of the defendants, but some have made their names public when speaking out.

During the trial, several defendants told the court their comments were intended as humor or satire and said they did not understand why they were being prosecuted.

The case follows years of conspiracy theories falsely alleging that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is actually the name of her brother. The Macrons also filed a defamation complaint in the United States against a conservative influencer Candace Owens.

The Macrons, married since 2007, met for the first time at high school where he was a student and she was a teacher. Brigitte Macron, 24 years older than her husband, was then called Brigitte Auzière, married and mother of three children.

Emmanuel Macron, 48, has been president of France since 2017.

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