Ten individuals sentenced of online harassment directed at Brigitte Macron

A French judicial body has found guilty ten people for perpetrating the digital intimidation of Brigitte Macron, the spouse of French President, Emmanuel Macron.

The those on trial faced charges of spreading false claims regarding her gender and sexuality, in addition to publishing defamatory statements about the couple's age disparity of 24 years.

The court delivered suspended jail terms of up to eight months to the convicted individuals. The complete verdict has yet to be released.

A persistent conspiracy theory suggesting that Brigitte Macron is a trans woman has been in circulation since her husband's initial election in 2017.

This latest legal outcome in France coincides with the Macrons pursuing a libel case in the United States of America against political commentator Candace Owens, who has likewise promoted similar conspiracy theories about the French president's wife's biological sex.

Their legal filing contends that Owens ignored any factual proof contradicting her allegations in favour of platforming known conspiracy theorists.

Owens has often echoed these allegations on her podcast and social networks, and in March 2024 proclaimed that she would risk all her credibility on her conviction that Mrs. Macron is in fact a man.

Brigitte Macron originally became acquainted with her future husband when she taught at his lycée.

The pair married in 2007, when the future French president was 29 and she was in her mid-50s.