The French judiciary announced on Wednesday the referral of a woman to trial on charges of "insulting" President Emmanuel Macron, after she called him in a comment on Facebook a scathing description, while the woman responded to the accusations by saying "they want to make an example of her."

The woman wrote in her post, "This dirty will address you at one o'clock in the afternoon, we always see this dirty on TV." She is a Pentecostal and was a supporter of the Yellow Vest protests (2018-2019) that cast a shadow over Macron's first presidential term.

The prosecutor said the defendant, who is from northern France, faced a maximum penalty of a fine rather than imprisonment. He added that the defendant will be tried from next June and that the penalty for the charge against her is a maximum fine of 12,<> euros.

The woman was arrested on Friday and remanded in custody after the local state administrative office filed a complaint against her over a Facebook post, Saint-Omer (north) city prosecutor Mehdi Benbouzid told AFP.

The prosecutor said the woman was accused of "insulting the President of the Republic" and would go on trial on June 20 in Saint-Omer.

The subject of the complaint is a post posted by the woman on her Facebook page on March 21, the eve of an interview with the French president by TF1 in which he defended a controversial reform of the pension system that sparked widespread protests.

"She stands accused of 'insulting the president of the republic' and will stand trial on June 20 in Saint Omer, the prosecutor said" https://t.co/Pu3NReSIEL

— Populism Updates (@PopulismUpdates) March 29, 2023

The accused responds

On the other hand, the defendant said in a statement to the newspaper "La Voix du Nord", which was the first to report the accusations, "They want to make an example of me."

The woman, identified by the newspaper as Valerie, said she was surprised when police knocked on her door on Friday morning to arrest her.

"I asked them if it was a joke. I've never been arrested," she said, adding, "I'm not the number one enemy of the country."

The months-long protest movement against the pension reform has exacerbated social tensions in France, with Macron and his government refusing to back down.

New clashes were recorded on Tuesday between police and demonstrators. Trade unions have also called for a new day of strikes and sit-ins on April 6.