Ten people have gone on trial in a Paris court charged with online harassment of French First Lady Brigitte Macron, the latest case linked to unsubstantiated claims about her gender.
The defendants, eight men and two women, aged 41 to 60, stand accused of cyber-harassment after targeting the first lady with claims that she is a transgender woman who was born a man and referring to her 24-year age gap with French President Emmanuel Macron as âpaedophilia,â reported Al Jazeera.
The trial comes after the Macrons, who were not present as the two-day proceedings opened on Monday, filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States at the end of July.
The chief judge said the defendants, whose posts quickly gained traction online, racking up tens of thousands of views, had caused a âdeteriorationâ in the first ladyâs âphysical and mental healthâ.
Seven of the defendants were in court on Monday, while three others were being represented by their lawyers.
Delphine Jegousse, 51, known as Amandine Roy, who describes herself as a medium and an author, is considered to have played a major role in spreading the rumour about the first ladyâs gender after she released a four-hour video on her YouTube channel in 2021.
The Macrons have for years been dogged by conspiracy theories that Brigitte, 72, was born a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux, who supposedly then took the name Brigitte as a transgender woman.
