This is a new case of online harassment but this time, it affects one of the most influential women in France. Brigitte Macron filed a complaint on August 27 for acts of cyberharassment against four men, including Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, better known as Zoé Sagan on social networks.
Arrested and placed in police custody this Tuesday, the four suspects were summoned to a criminal hearing which will take place on July 10, according to information confirmed to 20 Minutes by the Paris prosecutor's office. We take stock of this legal case which mixes sexism, the conspiratorial sphere and the first lady.
Why did Brigitte Macron file a complaint?
On August 27, Brigitte Macron filed a complaint for cyberharassment with the National Center for the Fight against Online Hate (PNLH). An investigation was then entrusted to the Brigade for the Repression of Personal Delinquency (BRDP) for counts of cyberharassment and provocation to commit an offense. During their investigations, the BRDP agents will identify numerous malicious comments relating to “the gender and sexuality of Brigitte Macron as well as the age difference with her partner, from an angle assimilating it to pedophilia”, indicates the public prosecutor.
A first complaint had already been filed by the wife of the President of the Republic against Amandine Roy and Natacha Rey, respectively “medium” and “self-taught independent journalist”. The two women were accused of spreading the falsehood that Brigitte Macron was a transgender woman. They were both fined and ordered to pay damages. However, this case will also be brought to the attention of the court on July 10.
Who is Zoe Sagan?
Behind the female pseudonym Zoé Sagan we actually find a man named Aurélien Poirson-Atlan. This is the magazine Paris Match which will be the first media to reveal the identity of this 40-year-old former advertising executive based in Arles, who has long cultivated mystery around his X account. Presented as “the first female AI of the 21st century”, Zoe's profile Sagan has become, since his creation in 2019, relatively influential in conspiracy circles.
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If it is one of the first accounts to have revealed information on the Griveaux affair and the Cauet affair, it above all fuels numerous conspiracy theories and major online defamation campaigns. His preferred targets? Gabriel Attal, Marlène Schiappa and more recently, the presidential couple.
What do the defendants risk?
In addition to Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, three other men were taken into police custody this Tuesday. They are Jean-Luc M., 64 years old, Bertrand S., 55 years old and Jean-Christophe D., 53 years old. The four men were summoned to a criminal hearing which will be held on July 10 to respond to accusations of cyberharassment against Brigitte Macron. For this fact, characterized as a criminal offense, they risk a maximum penalty of three years of imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.
According to information from AFP, Me Juan Branco, lawyer for Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, denounced the arrest of his client and claimed “political remote control now evident” by the Paris prosecutor's office. “Press offenses should not be subject to bodily restraints,” he added, thus denouncing the placement in police custody of Aurélien Poirson-Atlan. And at the same time increasingly fueling the conspiracy theory.
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