Three far-right men convicted over Macron alleged assassination plot
A French court finds three members of a far-right group guilty of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act against President Emmanuel Macron in 2018.
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A court sketch of a hearing in the trial of the far-right militant group known as the "Barjols" ( Benoît Peyrucq, AFP)
After a trial that focused on a radical far-right online group, a French anti-terror court convicted three men on Friday for plotting to assassinate President Emmanuel Macron.
The three men, who were members of the Barjols Facebook group, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act after the court heard how they contemplated using a ceramic knife to stab Macron in 2018 at a First World War commemoration.
Jean-Pierre Bouyer, a 66-year-old retired mechanic, was sentenced to four years in prison with one year suspended, far less than the maximum imprisonment term of ten years for a similar offense.
On November 6, 2018, he and three others were apprehended in the eastern Moselle region. In his car, police discovered a commando-style knife and an army vest, as well as three weapons.
Two others detained with him received reduced sentences, while nine co-defendants and group members were cleared.
A 13th member was sentenced to probation for illegally having a handgun.
The court has heard accounts of the group's alcohol-fueled meetings and often racist internet talks about migration, their dread of civil war, and their loathing of Macron since the trial began in mid-January.
The case also sparked questions about when internet plots and violent fantasies become criminal, with defense attorneys claiming that the prosecution lacked evidence of any genuine desire to act.
The three primary defendants are anticipated to seek appeals.
It is worth noting that the organization was created on Facebook in 2017-- a year during which 36 percent of voters voted for Marine Le Pen even after she compared Muslims to Nazis that occupied France during WWII.
