BRIGITTE Macron suffered “serious mental and physical decline” from the trolls who accused her of being a male paedophile, a court heard.
Jean Ennochi, representing the First Lady, said the accused could face two years behind bars for alleged “cyberbullying”.
Eight men and two women were tried in a Paris criminal court today after Mrs Macron72, and her husband President Emmanuel Macron filed a defamation lawsuit in the summer to prove she is a biological woman.
They are accused of making numerous “malicious” claims about the First Lady’s sexuality and gender.
Some of the accused, all aged between 41 and 60, even suggested her 24-year age difference with her husband was “paedophilia”, prosecutors said.
Ten people are on the charge sheet, but three failed to turn up to the Paris Correctional Court.
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Among those who did show was Delphine J., 51, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium who goes by the pseudonym Amandine Roy.
She previously alleged Mrs Macron had once been a man called Jean-Michel Trogneux – the name of her brother.
When Roy appeared in the dock, she was told by the presiding Judge: “You are accused of the same offence as the other defendants, namely harassing Brigitte Macron online.
“This led to a serious deterioration in her physical and mental health.”
Roy also claimed Mrs Macron’s first husband, André-Louis Auzière, had never actually existed before his reported death in 2020, aged 68.
Defending Roy, Maud Marian, said her client had merely “replied to other posts” online and had not trolled Mrs Macron directly.
All of the defendants deny any wrongdoing, and claim their right to free speech is being infringed because they attacked a senior member of the Paris political establishment.
The trial is focusing on “numerous malicious comments about Brigitte Macron’s gender and sexuality, as well as her age difference with her husband which have seen her likened to a paedophile,” said a spokesman for Paris prosecutors.
He added: “On August 27th, Brigitte Macron filed a complaint for cyberbullying, an offence punishable by two years’ imprisonment.”
Among those accused is Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, 41, known online as “Zoe Sagan”, where he spreads multiple conspiracy theories.
Juan Branco, defence barrister for Poirson-Atlan, said the prosecution was “taking an obvious political direction.”
He said it was particularly outrageous that his client was being tried for what amounted to a matter of “free speech opinion“.
Brigitte Macron’s legal battles
For years, vicious rumours claiming Brigitte was born a man have spread online by conspiracy theorists and right-wing personalities.
One of the biggest names to do so is US pundit Candace Owens.
Last March, Owens said she “would stake [her] entire professional reputation” on the claim that Brigitte was born male.
She even alleged Brigitte is in fact her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, and that her first husband never existed.
Hurt by the outlandish comments to her hundreds of thousands of viewers, both Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron took legal action.
But Owens hit back by saying she would demand a medical exam as part of any trial.
She announced: “We’re going to demand Brigitte sit down for an exam with an independent doctor.
“We’re coming for her medical records.”
Her lawyers have insisted Owens has a right to say what she believes under free speech laws.
The rumours about Brigitte’s birth gender first took off in France after far-right magazine Faits et Documents printed them in 2021.
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Mrs Macron and her husband then filed for defamation in July and vowed to do whatever necessary to prove Brigitte is and always has been a woman.
The Paris trial continues, and is expected to conclude on Tuesday.