PARIS – A court in France awarded four-month imprisonment to a man who slapped French President Emmauel Macron in the face earlier this week during a walkabout in Drome region in south-eastern France.
International media reports said that the suspect named Damien Tarel, 28, had been handed 18 months jail but the court later suspended 14 of those months.
Earlier, Tarel told the court in Valence that he acted because the president is damaging the country.
The man further revealed that he had planned to hurl an egg or a cream tart at the president, adding that the slap was not premeditated.
“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.”
Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron was slapped across the face by a man during an official visit to the Drome region in south-eastern France.
A viral video shows a man shout “Down with Macronia” in the French language before slapping Macron’s face during a public walkabout in Tain-l’Hermitage outside the city of Valence.
French President Emmanuel Macron was slapped across the face by a man during a trip to southeast France on Tuesday. Macron approached a barrier to shake hands with a man who slapped the 43-year-old across the face in the village of Tain-l´Hermitage in the Drome region. pic.twitter.com/tk8VYwMo5m
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) June 8, 2021
The security officers quickly intervened and pulled away the president. Two people were arrested in connection with the incident, reported international media.
President Macron later termed it an “isolated event”.
“We must not let ultra-violent people take over the public debate: they do not deserve it,” he told French newspaper Le Dauphiné.
Read more: https://pakobserver.net/french-president-macron-slapped-in-face-during-walkabout-video/