A woman in northern France is to be put on trial on charges of insulting President Emmanuel Macron after describing him as 'filth' in a Facebook post, a prosecutor said on Wednesday.
The woman, risks a fine of 12,000 euros but not prison if convicted at the trial due to be held in June.
She was arrested on Friday and held in custody for questioning after the state's local administrative office filed a complaint over her Facebook post, the prosecutor in the northern town of Saint Omer, Mehdi Benbouzid, told AFP.
The complaint focused on a post on her Facebook page made on March 21, the day before Macron gave a lunchtime interview to TF1 television to defend his controversial pension reforms that have sparked nationwide protests.
"This piece of filth is going to address you at 1:00 pm... it's always on television that we see this filth," she wrote.
The woman, in her 50s, had been a supporter of the 2018-2019 "Yellow Vest" protests that shook Macron during his first mandate.
She stands accused of "insulting the president of the republic" and will stand trial on June 20 in Saint Omer, the prosecutor said.
"They want to make an example of me," the woman told La Voix du Nord regional newspaper which first reported the accusations.
The woman, named by the paper as Valerie, said she was astonished when she answered the knock on the door on Friday morning to find police had come to arrest her.
"I asked them if it was a joke, I had never been arrested," she said. "I am not public enemy number one."
The months-long protest movement against the pension reform has sent social tensions spiraling in France and Macron and his government refuse to give way.
New clashes between police and protesters erupted Tuesday and unions have announced a new day of strikes and protests on April 6.
During a hearing about Starbucks' efforts to block its stores from being unionized, Schultz slammed an attempt by Sanders to paint him as a privileged oligarch who had success handed to him early in life.
"I grew up in federally subsidized housing, my parents never owned a home, I came from nothing," Shultz said. "I thought that my entire life was based on the achievement of the American dream! Yes, I have billions of dollars -- I earned it! No one gave it to me. And I've shared it constantly with the people of Starbucks."
"No it is not!" Sanders shot back, and then informed him that it was now time to hear from other witnesses because "you're not the only person testifying."
At the start of the hearing, Sanders accused Schultz and Starbucks of waging "the most aggressive and illegal union-busting campaign in the modern history of our country."
Multiple Starbucks locations have voted to unionize over the past two years but so far the company has not recognized any of them as legitimate.
\u201cFormer Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz complains about Sen. Bernie Sanders\u2019 (I-VT) \u201cunfair\u201d labeling of him as a billionaire:\n\n\u201cI came from nothing \u2026 Yes, I have billions of dollars \u2014\u00a0I earned it. No one gave it to me. And I\u2019ve shared it constantly with the people of Starbucks.\u201d\u201d
People anticipating a potential indictment of Donald Trump will have to wait another month thanks to a previously scheduled hiatus for the Manhattan grand jury considering the case, Politico reported.
If any indictment is to come, it would be pushed to late April at the earliest, although it's possible that the schedule could change.
The case is in regards to a $130,000 hush money payment Trump's then-personal lawyer paid to porn star Stormy Daniels in the run up to the 2016 election to allegedly cover up a sexual encounter the two had.
A source speaking to Politico said the grand jury, which heard testimony in the Trump case on Monday, "isn’t meeting Wednesday and is expected to examine evidence in a separate matter Thursday."
"The grand jury, which typically meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, is scheduled to consider another case next week on Monday and Wednesday, the person said, and isn’t expected to meet Thursday due to the Passover holiday," Politico's report stated. "The following two weeks are set to be a hiatus that was scheduled when the grand jury was first convened in January, the person said."
