fake news – The two women were convicted for spreading a rumor that Brigitte Macron never existed but that her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux had taken her identity
The rumor had gone viral as far as the United States. The fake news that Brigitte Macron was a transgender woman had circulated on the web for a long time. The two women who had spread this false information on the Internet were convicted on Thursday by the Paris Criminal Court for defamation.
They were given a suspended fine of 500 euros and will also have to pay 8,000 euros in damages to Brigitte Macron and 5,000 euros to her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux, both civil parties in the trial, which was held last June.
“Prosecutions are underway in France and abroad”
“This is not a victory, it is a normal application of the law,” Jean Ennochi, Brigitte Macron’s lawyer, who was absent from the deliberations and the trial, told AFP. During the hearing in June, he insisted on the “enormous” damage caused by this fake news, which had “gone wildly” around the world. “Given all these reprints,” we are now “systematically pursuing” legal action. “Prosecutions are underway in France and abroad,” he said.
At the heart of the case, a theory regularly resurfaces on the networks(…) - 20minutes
Also read:
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Rumor about Brigitte Macron’s transgender identity: A medium and a journalist tried for defamation
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