Ten individuals sentenced of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron
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A court in Paris has ruled against ten people for perpetrating the online harassment of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.
The those on trial faced accusations of circulating false claims regarding her sex and sexuality, in addition to posting hurtful comments about the pair's age disparity of 24 years.
The court handed down conditional custodial sentences of a maximum of eight months to the defendants. The detailed judgment has yet to be released.
A persistent false narrative claiming that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has spread widely since her husband's initial election in 2017.
This latest legal outcome in France coincides with the Macrons initiating a defamation lawsuit in the US against political commentator Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared similar conspiracy theories about the first lady's identity.
Their lawsuit states that Owens disregarded any factual proof disproving her claim in favour of platforming known conspiracy theorists.
Owens has regularly repeated these assertions on her digital program and social networks, and in March 2024 proclaimed that she would bet her whole career on her belief that Mrs. Macron was born a man.
Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her future husband when she was a teacher at his lycée.
The two tied the knot in 2007, when the future French president was 29 and she was 54.
