Overview
- The Bordeaux criminal court convicted Yves Foulon on Thursday and ordered a 10,000-euro fine, half suspended, a 30-euro fine for injures and 2,500 euros in damages to his opponent Vital Baude.
- The altercation that triggered the trial was filmed without Foulon’s knowledge on March 15 and published by the online outlet Vakita two days later, producing the video evidence relied on at trial.
- The video shows Foulon using repeated vulgar insults and explicit threats toward Baude and the judge found there was physical contact with enough force to make Baude step back.
- Prosecutors had asked for a four-month suspended prison term and described the case as among the most serious attacks on elected officials in Bordeaux’s remit; Foulon’s lawyer called the ruling a “judgment of appeasement” and Baude has not ruled out an appeal.
- Foulon is a 67-year-old long-serving LR mayor, former deputy and lawyer with no prior convictions, and the case raises questions about how French courts and politics will sanction misconduct by local elected officials.