The Japan Times - French prosecutors seek suspended jail terms in Brigitte Macron cyberbullying case

Prosecutors also requested fines of up to 8,000 euros ($9,300) against the 10 defendants -- eight men and two women, aged 41 to 65 -- who have been accused of cyber-harassment targeting the French first lady.

The heaviest sentences were sought for three defendants described by prosecutors as "instigators," while the seven others were labelled "followers".

The trial comes after President Emmanuel Macron and his wife filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States at the end of July, in connection with a false claim amplified and repeated online that Brigitte Macron was assigned male at birth.

The allegation has long targeted the presidential couple, alongside criticism of their quarter-century age gap.

Brigitte Macron's daughter told a French court on Tuesday that unsubstantiated claims about her mother's gender had harmed the French first lady's health.

"She's constantly having to pay attention to what she wears, how she holds herself because she knows that her image can be distorted," said Tiphaine Auziere, 41.

The recycled disinformation had led to a "deterioration" in her mother's health, she added.

The first lady has stayed away from the trial in Paris but she told investigators the rumour had greatly impacted her and her family, especially her grandchildren, who were told their grandmother was a man.

The French first lady filed a complaint in August 2024 that led to an investigation into cyberbullying and arrests in December 2024 and February 2025.

- 'Media deep state' -

Prosecutors sought the heaviest sentences against three of the defendants, including Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, 41, a publicist known on social media as "Zoe Sagan" and often linked to conspiracy theory circles.

Prosecutors requested a 12-month suspended prison sentence, an 8,000 euro fine and a six-month suspension of his social media accounts.

In court on Tuesday, he defended his right to what he called "satire".

Another, Bertrand Scholler, 56, said on Sunday that the trial was targeting his "freedom to think" faced with the "media deep state".

Prosecutors requested a six-month suspended sentence, 3,000 euro fine, and the immediate suspension of Scholler's social media accounts for six months.

The third is a woman already the subject of a libel complaint filed by Brigitte Macron in 2022: Delphine J., 51, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium who goes by the pseudonym Amandine Roy.

For Delphine J., prosecutors sought a six-month suspended jail term, a 4,000 euro fine and the suspension of her online accounts, also for half a year.

In 2021, she posted a four-hour interview with self-described independent journalist Natacha Rey on her YouTube channel, alleging Brigitte Macron had once been a man called Jean-Michel Trogneux, the name of her brother.

The two women were ordered to pay damages to Brigitte Macron and her brother in 2024 before the conviction was overturned on appeal.

The first lady has since taken the case to the country's highest appeals court.

- US influencer -

Emerging as early as Emmanuel Macron's election in 2017, the claims have been amplified by far-right and conspiracy theorist circles in France, and in the United States, where transgender rights have become a hot-button issue at the heart of American culture wars.

The presidential couple filed a US defamation lawsuit in July against conservative podcaster Candace Owens, who produced a series titled "Becoming Brigitte", claiming she was born a man.

The couple is planning to offer "scientific" evidence and photos proving that the first lady is not transgender, according to their US lawyer.

Several of those on trial in Paris shared posts from the US influencer.

Other high-profile women in politics have also been the target of disinformation about their gender or sexuality.

They include former US first lady Michelle Obama, US ex-vice president Kamala Harris and New Zealand ex-premier Jacinda Ardern.

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S.Ogawa--JT