Overview
- The mayor of Béziers will be tried on 30 September in Montpellier for refusing in 2023 to celebrate the civil marriage of a French woman and an Algerian man who was subject to an obligation to leave France (OQTF).
- Ménard said on 3 September that he has asked President Emmanuel Macron to appear at the trial and to 'repeat' his May 2025 description of the situation as 'ubuesque'.
- The Ligue de défense des valeurs républicaines filed a criminal complaint on 3 September accusing Ménard of discrimination, abuse of authority, public incitement to discrimination, and related offenses over his August remarks and past practices.
- If convicted, Ménard faces up to five years in prison, a €75,000 fine and a possible period of ineligibility for public office under current criminal rules on refusal to perform official duties.
- The case recalls Macron's 2025 critique of the law and a stalled 2025 proposal from Éric Ciotti's UDR to shield mayors, and it highlights the legal tension between a mayor's duty to register and officiate civil marriages and political efforts to change how OQTF cases are handled.