A French court has convicted 10 people for the cyber harassment of France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron, over false claims that she is a transgender woman.
The eight men and two women, aged between 41 and 60, were found guilty by a Paris criminal court of making malicious online comments targeting Ms Macron’s gender and sexuality.
Some of the abuse included equating the 24-year age difference between her and President Emmanuel Macron to “paedophilia”. The couple married in 2007, when the French president was 29, and she was in her mid-50s.
The defendants were handed sentences of up to eight months’ imprisonment, suspended, according to local media reports.
In recent years, false claims have circulated alleging that the French First Lady was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, the actual name of her older brother.
Ongoing US Lawsuit
The judgment also comes as the couple pursue a high-profile defamation lawsuit in the United States against right-wing influencer and podcaster Candace Owens, who has similarly claimed that Mrs Macron was born male.
The lawsuit, filed in July, alleges that Owens “disregarded all credible evidence disproving her claim in favour of platforming known conspiracy theorists and proven defamers”. Under US law, defamation cases involving public figures require proof of “actual malice”.
Speaking in August, President Macron said: “This is about defending my honour because this is nonsense.
“This is someone who knew full well that she had false information and did so with the aim of causing harm, in the service of an ideology and with established connections to far-right leaders.”