He had published posters representing President Emmanuel Macron as Hitler: the Toulon Criminal Court fined a Var poster who defends his "right to humor" on Friday and immediately decided to appeal.

Michel-Ange Flori, 62, former publicist, was sentenced for "public insult" to the President of the Republic, who had lodged a complaint this summer after the publication by this entrepreneur of two posters representing him in La Seyne-sur-Mer ( Var) and Toulon.

The court followed the requisitions of the prosecutor Laurent Robert, who had denounced in his indictment "an obvious desire to harm".

On the first poster targeted, revealed on July 19, just a few days after the announcement by the government of the implementation of a health pass in France, Emmanuel Macron was represented in the guise of Adolf Hitler, small mustache and uniform Nazi, with this slogan: "Obey, get vaccinated".

Right to caricature?

A month later, when an investigation had been opened for the poster of Hitler, Michel-Ange Flori had published another poster where Emmanuel Macron appeared alongside Marshal Pétain, dressed and wearing the same kepi, against a background of QR code, with this message: “There is only one pass to go through”.

"The right to caricature has been achieved", denounced alongside Michelangelo Flori his lawyer Me Béranger Tourné, announcing "immediately to appeal".

"The president so quick to defend freedom of expression (...) considers that it stops at his august person".

If the former offense of "insulting the President of the Republic" was repealed in 2013 after a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights condemning France, the Head of State is protected from injury and public defamation like any ordinary citizen, even if prosecutions are extremely rare.

"Some people write on the walls, I make posters"

Michel-Ange Flori "is perhaps irreverent, rude, demagogue but not at all guilty", pleaded his lawyer in court, recalling that these posters had been carried out "in reaction to a controversial and political debate".

For his part, Michelangelo Flori claimed: "Some write on the walls, I make posters", recalling that this mode of expression was "the oldest in the world".

He said he wanted to "denounce the attacks on the freedoms of a drifting authoritarian regime."

In front of the Toulon courthouse, about twenty people waving "I am Flori" signs showed their support.

This entrepreneur who owned 600 billboards has kept two for his personal use, on which he publishes "4X3 tweets" according to his expression: support for nursing staff, the French football team or political messages.

He has several convictions on his criminal record, in particular for violence against a person holding public authority and theft.

Justice

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Society

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  • Adolf Hitler

  • Emmanuel Macron

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