PARIS, Jan 5 (Reuters) - A Paris court on Monday found 10 people guilty of the cyber-harassment of France's first lady, Brigitte Macron, for spreading false claims that she is a transgender woman who was born male.
Brigitte and her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron, have long faced such falsehoods, including allegations that she was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux - the actual name of her older brother.
The couple's 24-year age gap has also drawn criticism and barbs, which they largely ignored for years but have recently begun challenging in court.
Monday's ruling marks a victory for the Macrons as they pursue a separate high-profile U.S. defamation lawsuit against right-wing influencer and podcaster Candace Owens, who has also claimed Brigitte was born male.
The eight men and two women were found guilty of making malicious comments about Brigitte Macron's gender and sexuality, even equating her age difference with her husband to "paedophilia".
They received a range of sentences. One received a six-month jail sentence without suspension. Others received suspended jail terms of up to eight months. Further punishments included fines and mandatory cyber harassment awareness courses, and five were banned from using the social media platform they had posted on.
SOME DEFEND THEIR COMMENTS AS SATIRE
Reuters could not immediately contact Brigitte Macron's lawyer or lawyers for those convicted.
The ruling comes amid broader transatlantic tensions over online speech, with the Trump administration framing European efforts to curb disinformation as censorship. Last month, Washington imposed visa bans on five Europeans combating online hate and falsehoods, including French former EU commissioner Thierry Breton and anti-disinformation campaigners.
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.
"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."
BRIGITTE MACRON SPEAKS
Speaking with 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."
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Juliette Jabkhiro, Editing by Benoit Van Overstraeten and Ros Russell)
