Dimitri Vernet with Melanie Faure
modified to
1:37 p.m., March 20, 2023
To denounce the forced passage of the pension reform bill, the French were thousands to take to the streets. Objective ? Make their voices heard. In Dijon, parliamentary offices were tagged and puppets bearing the effigy of members of the government, including Emmanuel Macron, burned. But what do the perpetrators risk?
“The street will not retreat”, “Retirement also needs consent”… The French were in the street this weekend. The demonstrators held up placards to protest against the adoption of the pension reform bill after the use of article 49.3. And in the procession, portraits and mannequins bearing the image of members of the government have arisen.
Thus, in Dijon, models representing Emmanuel Macron, Elisabeth Borne, Olivier Véran and Olivier Dussopt were set on fire at Place de la République on Thursday. But what do the demonstrators who threaten the President of the Republic, ministers, or public figures risk in this way? Since 2013, the President of the Republic benefits from the same legal protection as persons holding public authority. We are talking about elected politicians, magistrates, customs officers or even bus drivers.
Up to 6 months imprisonment
According to article 433 paragraph 5 of the penal code, insulting a person holding public authority, “when committed in a meeting”, can be punished by a fine of 7,500 euros and six months’ imprisonment. imprisonment.
This is what the people who burned these mannequins bearing the likeness of Emmanuel Macron, Elisabeth Borne and Olivier Dussopt risk. But the past has shown it to us. Justice is rather lenient with individuals who commit this kind of incident. Only two people were sentenced after hanging and then burning a mannequin bearing the likeness of the President of the Republic in 2018. The sentence? A citizenship course for the two men.