Man who slapped Emmanuel Macron jailed for four months

10 June 2021, 17:59

A man who slapped French President Emmanuel Macron in the face has been jailed for four months.

Damien Tarel, 28, was also given an additional 14-month suspended sentence, banned from ever holding public office and banned from owning weapons for five years, after he hit Mr Macron during an official visit to the south-east of France on Tuesday.

Tarel was quickly arrested after the attack and the court in the city of Valence convicted him on a charge of violence against a person invested with public authority.

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Tarel, who describes himself as a right-wing or extreme-right "patriot" and member of the yellow vest economic protest movement that shook Mr Macron's presidency in 2018 and 2019, testified that the attack was impulsive and unplanned, and prompted by anger at France's "decline".

"When I saw his friendly, lying look, I felt disgust, and I had a violent reaction," he told the court. "It was an impulsive reaction... I was surprised myself by the violence."

Poised and calm, he firmly defended his “rather violent” action and his views on Mr Macron, without providing details of what policies he wants France to change.

He sat straight and showed no emotion as he was sentenced but his girlfriend broke down in tears.

While he said he and his friends had considered bringing an egg or a cream pie to throw at the president, he said they dropped the idea and insisted that the slap was not pre-meditated.

"I think that Emmanuel Macron represents the decline of our country," he said, without explaining what he meant.

He told investigators that he held right or ultra-right political convictions without being a member of a party or group, according to the prosecutor's office.

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The slap called attention to an assortment of ultra-right groups bubbling beneath France's political landscape, which are considered increasingly dangerous despite their small following.

Mr Macron would not comment on Thursday on the trial, but insisted that "nothing justifies violence in a democratic society, ever".

"It's not such a big deal to get a slap when you go toward a crowd to say hello to some people who were waiting for a long time," he said in an interview with broadcaster BFM-TV.

"We must not make that stupid and violent act more important than it is."

At the same time, the president added "we must not make it banal, because anyone with public authority is entitled to respect".