A French woman has been charged with calling President Emmanuel Macron “filth” in a Facebook post. The woman faces a fine of up to 12,000 euros if she is convicted at the trial set to be held in June.
France 24 reported that the woman from northern France was arrested and put in custody after the local administrative office filed a complaint about her Facebook post, according to Mehdi Benbouzid, the prosecutor in the town of Saint Omer.
The charges are apparently based on a Facebook post that the woman shared on March 21, just one day before Macron appeared on television to defend his immensely unpopular pension reform bill that is set to raise the retirement age by two years, from 62 to 64. Consequently, France has played host to a slew of riots.
France 24 reported that the woman had also been a supporter of the “Yellow Vest” protests that raged across France during Macron’s first mandate in 2018-2019.
She posted to Facebook: "This piece of filth is going to address you at 1:00 pm... it's always on television that we see this filth," she wrote.
The woman has been accused of “insulting the president of the republic.”
The woman said that “[t]hey want to make an example of me,” adding that she was surprised to find that the police had come to her house on Friday morning.
“I asked them if it was a joke, I had never been arrested,” the woman said. “I am not public enemy number one.”
The woman’s post to Facebook seems to pale in comparison to the destruction that has plagued France since Macron’s unpopular pension reform bill was pushed through.
It does not appear Macron intends to draw back the pension bill, despite its disapproval from the public. The French president has expressed the position that the riots will not dissuade him from pushing forward with the bill, saying: “Protests are normal, but that does not mean we should stop.”
