Some of the defendants in the Macron case had claimed their comments amounted to satire, a defence the court denied. Bertrand Scholler, 55, a gallerist and writer, said he would appeal his six-month suspended jail sentence.
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“This is horrible. It’s abominable,” he told reporters at court. “This shows just how far French society is drifting toward less freedom of speech. Freedom of speech no longer exists.”
Speaking with French broadcaster TF1 on Sunday night, Brigitte Macron defended her fight against cyber bullies, hoping it would be an example to others. She said the online attacks against her appeared endless, and included “people who broke into my tax website and modified my identity.”
She also lamented that her attackers ignored the strong evidence of her gender.
“A birth certificate is not nothing. It is a father or a mother who goes to declare their child, who says who he is or who she is,” she said. “I want to help adolescents to fight against harassment, and if I do not set an example, it will be difficult.”
Reuters
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