Ten convicted of online harassment targeting Brigitte Macron
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A court in Paris has convicted ten people for engaging in the online harassment of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of France's leader, Emmanuel Macron.
The accused individuals faced accusations of spreading untruths regarding her sex and sexual orientation, in addition to posting hurtful comments about the pair's 24-year age gap.
The court issued suspended jail terms of up to eight months to the defendants. The detailed judgment has still to be made public.
A circulating conspiracy theory claiming that Brigitte Macron is a transgender woman has been in circulation since her husband's first electoral victory in 2017.
This Monday's court decision in France comes as the Macrons engaging in a defamation lawsuit in the United States of America against right-wing influencer Candace Owens, who has also voiced comparable unfounded claims about the Brigitte Macron's gender.
Their legal filing contends that Owens disregarded substantial counter-evidence disproving her claim opting to platforming known conspiracy theorists.
Owens has often echoed these allegations on her show and social networks, and in March 2024 stated that she would bet her whole career on her insistence that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.
Brigitte Macron first met her current spouse when she taught at his secondary school.
The couple tied the knot in 2007, when the man who would become president was 29 and she was approximately 54 years old.
