Ten individuals found guilty of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron
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A court in Paris has convicted ten people for carrying out the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of France's leader, Emmanuel Macron.
The those on trial faced charges of circulating untruths regarding her sex and sexual orientation, in addition to publishing malicious remarks about the husband and wife's age disparity of 24 years.
The court issued conditional custodial sentences of a maximum of eight months to the defendants. The detailed judgment has still to be made public.
A longstanding unfounded claim alleging that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has been in circulation since her husband's rise to the presidency in 2017.
This recent ruling in France coincides with the Macrons pursuing a libel case in the United States of America against conservative commentator Candace Owens, who has repeatedly shared similar conspiracy theories about the first lady's biological sex.
Their legal filing states that Owens brushed aside all credible evidence that refuted her assertions choosing instead to amplify the voices of notorious conspiracy peddlers.
Owens has often echoed these allegations on her digital program and online platforms, and in March 2024 declared that she would risk all her credibility on her conviction that Mrs. Macron is biologically male.
Brigitte Macron initially encountered her now-husband when she was a teacher at his lycée.
The couple tied the knot in 2007, when the man who would become president was 29 and she was approximately 54 years old.
