If digital acts can lead to very real convictions, a resident of Saint-Martin-lez-Tatinghem (Pas-de-Calais) did not expect to see the police arrive so quickly at her home. On March 21, she posted a message on Facebook on the eve of Emmanuel Macron’s interview on TF1 and France 2: “Trash will speak tomorrow at 1pm.”
Three policemen came to his house to arrest him three days after it was published. This action followed a complaint filed against X by Guillaume Thirard, the sub-prefect of the Saint-Omer district.
The end of the crime of insulting the Head of State
But, what is an Internet user really exposed to by insulting the President of the Republic? The Numerama site has investigated this issue. In reality, no law specifically protects the person of Emmanuel Macron. Ten years have passed since the crime of insulting the Head of State was abolished. It was part of the 1881 Law on Freedom of the Press and exposed offenders to a fine of 45,000 euros.
However, this same law continues to be the privileged means of the President of the Republic to defend himself against an insult, namely, “any outrageous expression, terms of contempt or invective that do not contain the imputation of any fact.”
Article 33 is not reserved for him and covers all citizens, including ministers, representatives of public authority, armies, administrative or judicial authorities.
This text is not specific to online acts, but includes electronically delivered insults. A category that includes publications on social networks because they are accessible from an internet connection, details Numerama. The sanction incurred can reach a fine of 12,000 euros.
This penalty can be increased up to one year in prison and 45,000 euros in the case of injuries related to origin, belonging or not to a certain ethnic group, nation, race or religion. The same applies to statements directed at sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or a disability.
Messages considered public
The Head of State can invoke a second law in case of insulting messages: article 433-5 of the Penal Code that regulates the crime of contempt.
Words, gestures or threats, writings or images of any kind not made public or sending any object constitute contempt punishable by a fine of 7,500 euros. a person entrusted with a public service missionin the exercise or on the occasion of the exercise of his mission, and likely to undermine his dignity or the respect due to the function that he is vested in”, states the first paragraph of the article.
This text provides that in case of contempt of a person vested with public authority -which is the case of Emmanuel Macron- the sentences are increased to one year in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros.
This text sanctions public statements. For this reason, it is important to bear in mind that a publication on the networks constitutes a public document, and not a private one. In the private sphere, insults are only subject to a fine of 38 euros.
This is also what the woman behind the Facebook post is accused of. She will be tried on June 20 for contempt of those who hold public authority.
Source: BFM TV
