When Valérie opened the door to her apartment on Friday March 24 around 10 a.m., she did not expect to find herself in front of three police officers. “I asked them if it was a joke; it’s the first time I’ve been arrested,” she says. She was then taken into custody, writing The voice of the North.
In convalescence following an injury to the arm, she was first transported to the hospital center in the Saint-Omer region to check her state of health. Back at the police station in the early afternoon, she was told that she was suspected of having written “Macron garbage” in front of the Arques waste depot. “Wrong, I was just photographed in front of me smiling,” she assures La Voix du Nord.
A very rare procedure
On the other hand, on his page on the social network Facebook, a message catches the eye of the police. It was posted on Tuesday March 21 and reads: “The trash will talk tomorrow at 1 p.m., for the people who are nothing, it’s always (sic) on TV that you find the trash”. The next day, Emmanuel Macron was to give a television interview to the midday newspapers on France 2 and TF1. She denies having wanted to use this term and pleads clumsiness: “It was I who made this publication but I wanted to play on words and write” hard gold “, the corrector modified and I didn’t did not proofread before sending. Besides, I’m not even quoting him. The argument did not convince the investigators.
Around 6 p.m., Valérie was presented to the prosecutor of the Saint-Omer court. She will be tried on June 20 for contempt of a person holding public authority.
“They want to make me an example”
The police investigation was opened following a complaint against X filed by the sub-prefect of the arrondissement of Saint-Omer, Guillaume Thirard. “I have come across offensive photos and posts and it is my duty to report them,” he explains. For Valérie, things are clear: “They want to make an example of me. I’m not public enemy number one. On Facebook, she says she has seen dozens of posts repeating this insult against the same head of state. Very few, if any, have been prosecuted, according to La Voix du Nord.
Valérie assumes to share “a lot of videos of police violence or political violence, I often say what I think but always in compliance with the law”. According to this figure of yellow vests in the Audomarois, “we are in a period when intimidation is strong and it is done on activists”, in reference to the mobilization against the pension reform. This will not impact his engagement. “We will continue to demonstrate and publish, but I will read myself more carefully,” she told La Voix du Nord. The newspaper Sud Ouest specifies that she risks 6 months in prison and a fine of 22,500 euros.