The man who called Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin a "
dirty rapist
" in July during a tribute ceremony to Father Hamel was found guilty of contempt by the Rouen Criminal Court, his lawyer said Monday 14 December.
To read also: Darmanin treated of "rapist": 140h of work required in Rouen
“
He was found guilty and must pay 100 day fines of fifteen euros, or 1,500 euros.
If it is not paid, it will be a hundred days in prison,
”the lawyer for the accused Chloé Chalot told AFP.
“
I am very disappointed with this judgment, we will appeal today.
It's defamation, not contempt,
”she said.
At the hearing on November 23, the prosecution requested 140 hours of community service with execution within 18 months and three months in prison for non-execution.
The man was tried for "
contempt of such a nature as to undermine the dignity or the respect due to the office
" of the Minister "
in the exercise of his functions
".
The defendant, a fitter in the automotive industry, member of the CGT, had admitted having launched "
dirty rapist, Darmanin, dirty rapist
", while the Minister of the Interior was at the desk outside the church of Saint -Étienne-du-Rouvray, a town in the agglomeration of Rouen, to deliver a speech in homage to Father Hamel, assassinated in 2016.
Read also: Father Hamel: a judicial inquiry soon to be closed and a beatification process on track
"
Even if I know that I did not use the right words, I do not regret having spoken because it is one of the only ways to be heard now
", he had said at the bar.
At the call of the CGT, several dozen people, including a few “
yellow vests
”, demonstrated in court.
Mr. Darmanin has been the subject since 2017 of a rape complaint from a woman who had requested him in 2009 to try to have a conviction quashed.
For Mr. Darmanin, it was on the contrary a voluntary relationship.
Classified without further action at first, the procedure was relaunched by the Paris Court of Appeal, which asked for new investigations in early June.
