According to a prosecutor from the region, only three of the protesters in Alsace who allegedly insulted President Emmanuel Macron during his visit last week will face trial in September.
The President received a hostile reception during his first trip out of Paris after signing a controversial pension reform into law. The trio, two men, and a woman with no criminal history, reportedly shouted insults and made obscene gestures at the President using their middle finger.
The prosecutor, Catherine Sorita-Minard, explained that the trio would appear on a prior admission of guilt for contempt of a person holding public authority.
In France, any outrageous expression or terms of contempt aimed at a public official constitute an insult and can be punished with one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros, according to Article 33 of the French penal code.
In the past, two contempt proceedings involving Macron were filed during his first term in office, one against a Kanak activist from New Caledonia, and the other against a 61-year-old pensioner who attended a demonstration.
Additionally, a woman from northern France will go on trial in June for describing Macron as “filth” in a Facebook post
