仏大統領夫人の親族に暴行　政治的犯行に批判集中

【リール（フランス）ＡＦＰ＝時事】フランスのエマニュエル・マクロン大統領の妻ブリジット氏の親族の男性が１５日、一族が経営するチョコレート店のそばで反政府デモの参加者から暴行を受けた。政治的動機によるとみられる犯行に批判が集まっている。（写真は仏アミアンにあるチョコレート店「ジャン・トロニュー」）
　ジャンバティスト・トロニューさん（３０）は１５日夜、北部アミアンにある店舗上階の自宅に戻ろうとした際、暴行を受けた。
　トロニューさんの父親が翌１６日にＡＦＰに語ったところによると、反政府のデモ隊がトロニューさんを取り囲み、「大統領夫妻と家族」を侮辱した後に暴行に及んだ。
　また父親はＢＦＭテレビに対し、トロニューさんは肋骨（ろっこつ）が折れたほか、頭や手にけがをしたと明かした。
　ブリジット氏は異例の声明を出し、犯行の「卑劣さや愚かさ、暴力性」を非難。またマクロン氏も、「容認できない」と憤った。
　１５日は、マクロン氏がテレビインタビューに応じている最中に抗議デモが行われ、事件はこの直後に発生。地元警察は、８人の身柄を拘束したと発表した。
　ブリジット氏の一族は、アミアン中心部で６世代にわたりチョコレート店を営んでおり、６年前にマクロン氏が大統領に就任して以来、店舗がデモ隊の標的となっている。
　マクロン氏が年金支給開始年齢を６２歳から６４歳に引き上げる年金改革を推し進めたことを受けて、仏国内では近年最大規模の抗議デモが繰り広げられている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2023/05/18-16:54）

A relative of French first lady Brigitte Macron has been beaten up outside her family's chocolate shop in an apparent politically motivated assault that sparked widespread condemnation on Tuesday.
Jean-Baptiste Trogneux was attacked on Monday evening while returning to his apartment above the famed Trogneux chocolate shop in Amiens, northern France.
The 30-year-old was surrounded by anti-government protesters who insulted the president, his wife and our family before attacking him physically, the victim's father, Jean-Alexandre Trogneux, told AFP on Tuesday.
They've crossed the line. I'm flabbergasted, Trogneux said, later telling the BFM channel that his son had been left with several broken ribs, a head injury and a hand wound.
Brigitte Macron issued a rare statement condemning the cowardice, stupidity and violence of the assault, while President Emmanuel Macron called it unacceptable as he arrived for a European meeting in Iceland.
I am in complete solidarity with my family and have been in touch constantly since 11 pm yesterday, Brigitte Macron added.
Local police said they had arrested eight people over the assault, which took place after protests in the city centre during a televised interview by President Emmanuel Macron on Monday evening.
Brigitte Macron's family have run the Jean Trogneux chocolate shop in the centre of her home city of Amiens for six generations, specialising in a local almond-based treat known as the Amiens Macaron.
The business has been targeted by protesters during Macron's six years in power amid rumours -- repeatedly denied -- that the first family have a financial interest.
Politicians from all sides sent condolences to the first lady, a 70-year-old former school teacher, and condemned the attack.
Hitting the great-nephew of a politician to target him is an act of cowardice, hard-left MP Alexis Corbiere, a regular critic of Macron's policies, said.
- Lawmakers targeted -
The 45-year-old head of state has sparked the biggest demonstrations in a generation this year over reforms to the pension system, which include raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 later this year.
Repeated clashes during the protests, as well as attacks on the offices of local and national elected figures, have sparked debate about whether the country is facing an upsurge in far-right and far-left political violence.
Last week, the mayor of a village in western France made waves by announcing his resignation after a suspected arson attack on his home.
Yannick Morez, from the village of Saint Brevin, had been repeatedly targeted by far-right activists over his support for a local centre for refugees.
During his comments in Iceland, Macron urged fellow politicians to temper their language, including those who had sought to justify vandalism during recent protests as legitimate expressions of public anger against his pension reforms.
No form of violence is justified because verbal violence leads to physical violence and violence against objects leads to violence against people, he said in Reykjavik.
He and his 70-year-old wife were left shaken in 2020 when they were surrounded and verbally abused by so-called Yellow Vest protesters as they walked in the Tuileries gardens in central Paris.
Interior ministry statistics showed that reported acts of physical or verbal violence against lawmakers increased by 32 percent year-on-year in 2022, when the country held parliamentary and presidential elections.
- 'Boycotts' -
The Trogneux chocolate business has expanded widely from its base in Amiens, a former industrial city where Brigitte met her future husband in the 1990s while he was a schoolboy and she was teaching him drama.
The shop is not involved in politics, Jean-Alexandre Trogneux, the beaten man's father, told the Courrier Picard local newspaper on Tuesday. Emmanuel Macron has got nothing to do with our business.
I don't understand all these people who continue to hassle us. Some of them even call for boycotts of our shops and products. They're getting everything mixed up.
He said shops were regularly vandalised, sales people were insulted, and death threats were received by post.
We came close to the worst last night, he told BFM, adding that a neighbour had come down into the street to confront the attackers and protect his son.
He (the neighbour) told me 'I've never seen such hatred in people's eyes. I thought they were going to kill him', he added.
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