France has been rebuked for violating the right to freedom of expression after giving a criminal conviction to a man for holding a cardboard sign telling the then president Nicolas Sarkozy to sod off, reports The Guardian.
The ruling by the European court of human rights has implications for political protest and satire in France after judges found the sign was of a "satirical" nature and did not warrant a criminal conviction.
Hervé Eon, a leftwing activist, held up his sign as Sarkozy's motorcade drove past during a presidential visit to Laval, western France, in 2008. The small A4-sized cardboard sign did not feature Sarkozy's name but said simply: "Casse-toi pov'con."
The line, which broadly means "Get lost, you prat," had been uttered by Sarkozy himself months earlier when a man refused to shake his hand at an agricultural fair, causing media outrage at his non-presidential language and demeanour. It later became a widely used political slogan against the president used by the left on stickers and posters.
Eon, 61, a former social worker, was arrested as soon as he got out his sign, although it did not feature Sarkozy's name. The state prosecutor brought a case against him for offence against a head of state, and in 2008 he was ordered to pay a symbolic fine of €30 and given a criminal conviction.
Read more of this report from The Guardian.