Robert Ménard on Trial in Montpellier for Refusing to Marry Man Under OQTF

Overview

• The trial of Robert Ménard, which opened Wednesday, September 30, exposes him to up to five years in prison, a €75,000 fine and possible inéligibilité for refusing to officiate the wedding.
• On July 7, 2023 Ménard declined to marry a French woman to an Algerian man who was under an OQTF, a deportation order that the public prosecutor had nonetheless approved, and the groom was detained and expelled about two weeks later.
• At the hearing Ménard said he accepted the risk of prosecution and argued a clash between his duty as an officer of civil status and his role as an officer of judicial police, and he called high‑profile right‑wing figures as witnesses with Bruno Retailleau attending.
• The couple’s lawyer reported threats to clients and refused trial support committees, and the mayor’s arrival at court provoked scuffles between his supporters and hostile demonstrators who chanted and sang outside the tribunal.
• The case feeds a wider political fight over a proposed law to bar marriages for people in irregular situations, a text backed by the Association des maires de France and criticized by local welcoming‑city groups as discriminatory.