Khaberni - A court in Paris convicted 10 people of cyber harassment against the First Lady Brigitte Macron, considering the comments to be "insulting to the plaintiff and linked to false claims about her gender."
Eight defendants were sentenced to suspended imprisonment ranging from four to eight months, while the ninth man was sentenced to six months in prison due to his absence from the court hearing, and the tenth defendant was ordered to attend a training course on combating online hate speech.
The defendants, eight men and two women aged between 41 and 65, were accused of publishing "numerous malicious comments" falsely alleging that the president’s wife, Emmanuel Macron, was born a man, and linking the 24-year age gap between her and her husband to child harassment.
The relationship between Emmanuel Macron, 48, and Brigitte, 72, who met him when she was a teacher at his school, has been of public interest since his election as president in 2017. However, in recent years, the interest has extended to include the widely circulated misinformation, and the couple decided to confront these claims through the judiciary.
In a parallel move, the couple filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States against the right-wing American podcast host Candice Owens, who falsely claimed that the First Lady had been a man in the past.
Brigitte Macron did not attend the court sessions in October, but she clarified to investigators after filing the complaint that the claim she was transgender had "severely affected" her and her loved ones. She confirmed, in an interview with national channel TF1 on Sunday, that she had initiated legal proceedings to "be an example" in combating cyber harassment.
These claims began since Macron's election as president in 2017, and their spread was supported by far-right circles and conspiracy theories in France and the United States, where transgender rights have become a controversial issue within the American cultural wars.
In the American case against Owens, who produced a series titled "Becoming Brigitte", the couple plans to present "scientific evidence" and photos proving that the First Lady is not transgender, according to their lawyer in the United States. Several of those sentenced in Paris shared posts from the American influencer.
