Man who slapped French President Macron sentenced to jail, details pop up
- The man who slapped the Fench president has been handed a jail term
- A French court heard the case just days after it happened and sentenced the young man
- Damien Tarel went viral after a video in which he was seen slapping Emmanuel Macron was posted online
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A French court has ordered Damien Tarel, the man who slapped French President Emmanuel Macron on the cheek to serve four months in jail, BFM TV reports.
Source: UGC
In a report sighted by Briefly News on Reuters, Damien Tarel, 28, an unemployed fan of medieval swordsmanship has also been asked to do time in jail.
The convicted identified as a right-wing sympathiser, and said he attacked Macron because the president stood for all that was rotten with France.
For his punishment, the court also ordered him to serve 18 months in jail, but 14 of those months were suspended.
Tarel attacked President Macron when the French leader was exchanging pleasantries with members of the public during a walkabout on Tuesday, June 8, 2021.
The 28-year-old man added that he had earlier considered throwing an egg or a cream tart at the president, but ended up slapping Macron - an act he told the court was not premeditated.
said that several days ahead of Macron's visit to the Drome region of southern France,
"I think that Macron represents very neatly the decay of our country," he told the court, according to BFM TV. "If I had challenged Macron to a duel at sunrise, I doubt he would have responded,"Tarel added.
Macron, on the other hand, described the unfortunate incident as an affront to democracy and said it did not speak well of a citizen.
His office also did not respond to requests for comment on Tarel's courtroom remarks.
Tarel faced a charge of assault against a public official, an offence which carries a maximum sentence of three years in jail and a 45,000 euro fine.
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Briefly News earlier reported that a man in a crowd of onlookers slapped French President Emmanuel Macron in the face on Tuesday, June 8.
The incident occurred on a walkabout in Southern France.
Images on social media showed Macron approach a barrier to greet a man who, instead of shaking hands, slapped the 43-year-old across the face.
Macron’s security entourage quickly intervened to pull the man to the ground and moved Macron away from him.
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Source: Briefly News
Maryn Blignaut (Human-Interest HOD) Maryn Blignaut is the Human Interest manager and feature writer. She holds a BA degree in Communication Science, which she obtained from the University of South Africa in 2016. She joined the Briefly - South African News team shortly after graduating and has over six years of experience in the journalism field. Maryn passed the AFP Digital Investigation Techniques course (Google News Initiative), as well as a set of trainings for journalists by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at: maryn.blignaut@briefly.co.za
Kelly Lippke (Senior Editor) Kelly Lippke is a copy editor/proofreader who started her career at the Northern-Natal Courier with a BA in Communication Science/Psychology (Unisa, 2007). Kelly has worked for several Caxton publications, including the Highway Mail and Northglen News. Kelly’s unique editing perspective stems from an additional major in Linguistics. Kelly joined Briefly News in 2018 and she has 14 years of experience. Kelly has also passed a set of trainings by Google News Initiative. You can reach her at kelly.lippke@briefly.co.za.
