A French court on Wednesday handed down an eight-month suspended sentence to a 76-year-old man after he issued a death threat against the judge who convicted far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
Last week, Le Pen was sentenced to a partially suspended jail term, a €100,000 fine, and a five-year ban from standing in elections after being convicted of a scheme in which European Parliament funds were used to pay assistants who were actually working for her political party.
The conviction dealt a significant blow to the 56-year-old’s aspirations of running for the French presidency in 2027.
The day after the ruling, Gerard B., a pensioner from La Garenne-Colombes, a suburb of Paris, posted a message on X (formerly Twitter) that included a photo of a guillotine and the words: “What this b**** deserves.”
On Wednesday, he was found guilty of contempt and incitement to murder. In addition to the suspended sentence, he was fined €3,000.
The defendant, who was born in French-controlled Algeria in 1948 and moved to France at the age of 14, argued that his post did not constitute a threat. He claimed the guillotine photo was a symbol of justice and suggested that certain judges “perhaps deserve to be judged.”
During the investigation, the pensioner, who had no prior criminal record, attributed the message to his anger and insisted that anything could be said on social media.
The prosecutor referenced the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty by an Islamist extremist in 2020 after Paty showed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed to his class. “In France, there are people who have had their heads cut off,” said the prosecutor. “Sitting at home behind your phone, in comfort, you may not be taking any risks, but it is a temptation for violent people or those with mental health problems.”
The defendant’s lawyer argued that “we are not dealing with an account with thousands of followers,” claiming that the “impact of his comments is almost zero,” as the post had only received 200 views at the time of the trial.
Since Le Pen’s conviction, threats have been made against the judges involved in the case. Head judge Bénédicte de Perthuis, a financial crime expert, is currently under protection, with increased patrols and regular checks around her home.
