A court in Paris has sentenced ten people for online bullying of France’s first lady Brigitte Macron.
They spread false claims that she is a transgender person who was born a man, reports CNN.
Brigitte and her husband, President Emmanuel Macron, have long faced such lies. Among other things, claims that she was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux – which is actually the name of her older brother.
The couple’s age difference of 24 years has also attracted criticism and jabs, which they largely ignored for years. But recently they have started to challenge this in court.
The eight men and two women were found guilty of making malicious comments about Brigitte Macron’s gender and sexuality. Some even compared the age difference with her husband to “pedophilia”.
The punishments varied. One received a six-month sentence without parole. Others received suspended prison terms of up to eight months. Additional penalties included fines and mandatory cyberbullying courses. Five were banned from the social media platform they had posted on.
Some of the defendants claimed the comments were satire, which the court rejected.
– This is terrible. It is disgusting, Bertrand Scholler (55) told reporters. He received a six-month suspended sentence and will appeal the sentence.
Brigitte Macron defended the fight against cyberbullying in a television interview on Sunday evening.
– I want to help young people to fight against bullying, and if I don’t set an example, it will be difficult, she said.
