10 convicted for claiming French first lady Brigitte Macron was born male

While some of the defendants in the Macron case claimed that his comments were meant as satire, the court rejected this defense. Gallerist and writer Bertrand Scholler, 55, said he would appeal the six-month suspended prison sentence.

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“This is terrible. It’s disgusting,” he told reporters in court. “This shows how far French society has moved towards less freedom of expression. Freedom of expression no longer exists.”

Speaking to French broadcaster TF1 on Sunday night, Brigitte Macron defended her fight against cyberbullies and hoped it would set an example for others. He said the online attacks against him seemed endless, including “people hacking into my tax website and changing my identity.”

She also complained that the attackers ignored strong evidence about her gender.

“A birth certificate is nothing. It’s a father or mother going to declare their child, saying who he is or who he is,” he said. “I want to help teens fight harassment, and it will be difficult if I don’t lead by example.”

Reuters

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