Overview
- Bally Bagayoko said he placed Emmanuel Macron’s portrait upside down in a corner as a protest over inequality in Saint-Denis, where 38% of households live below the poverty line.
- The prefect of Seine-Saint-Denis, Julien Charles, posted a public letter on X urging the mayor to reconsider out of respect for republican tradition.
- Charles noted there is no law that requires town halls to display the president’s portrait, framing the dispute as a question of custom rather than a legal breach.
- Online reaction split quickly, with some users defending the tradition and others citing homelessness and hardship to argue the protest is justified.
- France has prosecuted activists who removed presidential portraits in the past, though the Paris Court of Cassation later told lower courts to weigh free expression before convicting.