A French transnational couple with a 42-year-old difference faces 5 years in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros?!

Is the age difference between couples a reason for opposition to marriage? In the past few years, "New Year's Love" and "New Year's Love" have become popular all over the world...... But in France, where the president and his wife are 24 years apart, another French CP with a 42-year-old difference was recently rejected by the local civil affairs bureau when they registered their marriage, and they were even sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros......

It is said that "it is better to demolish a temple than to destroy a marriage"! The French Civil Affairs Bureau is so iron-fisted and ruthless in "beating the mandarin ducks" because it does not believe in their "true love that transcends generations"? What kind of ups and downs has this unblessed relationship experienced?

Is it suspected that the purpose of marrying into France is impure?

Olivier (not his real name) is a former employee of the town hall of Béziers, a retired man born in France in 1948 and a father of four, who is currently unsupervised.

In the spring of 2023, he proposed to Severin (not her real name), a woman from Libreville, Gabonese Republic.

In 2018, the lovers met through social media. In 2022, when Severin was granted a Spanish residence permit, they finally met each other, and just 5 months after meeting, Olivier proposed to Severin. But when it came to the marriage registration process, the marriage was officially ruled illegal......

The French border police of Port Sète conducted an administrative investigation into Olivier and Severin. The prosecution then decided to prosecute them due to difficulties in the conditions of their marriage, which also meant that they would face up to five years in prison and a fine of 15,000 euros.

"From the first time we met, we found our wedding plans unsettling," Olivier revealed.

In November 2023, Severin was summoned by the border police, after which they were interviewed by the media. Their lawyer, Séraphine Gonzalez (from the Bézier law firm), lamented: "The Civil Affairs Bureau does not think there is affection between them. But how can we determine what true feelings are, and what do we use to evaluate feelings?"

The behavior of obtaining the certificate is strange, and the prosecution: they are not familiar with it at all

"We are witnessing an insult to a foreigner, who is still in a precarious state, fears deportation, whose fundamental rights have even been violated, and where there is currently no text in the law that states that you cannot marry beyond a certain age difference......," the couple's lawyers argued, adding that the French prosecutor's suspicions were based entirely on subjective assumptions about their "huge age difference".

But prosecutors came forward to deny this claim, as they observed that the couple was not intimate at all, and even a little unfamiliar. Prosecutors found that they did not have a detailed plan for the marriage: neither the location nor the date of the wedding, nor the names of the corresponding guests......

When asked, they said they were preparing for the wedding, but when asked for specific details, the two sides did not agree at all about the details of the wedding form and related elements. Only then did the prosecution suspect the purpose of the marriage.

After the investigation, the Bézier Prosecutor's Office decided to prosecute the couple before the criminal courts, in accordance with the provisions of the Law on the Entry and Residence of Aliens and the Right to Asylum, which defines the crime of sham marriage in CESEDA.

"A sham marriage can be considered an illegal procedure in which two people do not intend to marry but in order to obtain certain social benefits," said Serafin González, prosecutor in Béziers. And we do not distinguish between the places of origin of foreigners. Regardless of the country of origin, the parties are required to provide the same documents without bias against any place of origin. ”

"My first husband was 15 years older than me," Severin confided to the media, explaining that the age difference doesn't really matter to Gabon or other Africans, "I could have found a young man in France [to marry], but I don't love him, and I have a residence permit, so please be fair to the French government, if I were French, would I have such a big difficulty?"

"My clients know each other's families. And neither child objected," said Karin Butin, a psychoanalyst who serves the lovers, "and in an absolute sense, in love, there are no standards. As long as we are happy, we can do what we want. ”

Coincidentally, in the summer of 2023, the French marriage inspector Robert Ménard also refused to allow a French woman to marry an Algerian man, which he considered to be also a fake marriage, which caused a big stir at the time. In the end, however, the husband was deported. Currently, the investigation is continuing.

Although Olivier and Severin have been appealing, there is little hope of successfully obtaining a marriage license for now......

Regardless of whether the truth of this marriage was denied is related to the age difference, in fact, "year-old love" is not uncommon in France.

The French are the "exemplar" of true love regardless of age

After all, the French have the most say in the fact that true love knows no age! President Macron and his wife are the top "year-old lovers" who are 24 years apart!

The political couple from the initial controversy to the current widespread recognition has shown the world that love is not hindered by age and worldly eyes, and also tells us that as long as you truly love each other, you have the courage to be fearless!

In recent years, other "year-old love" star CPs have gradually come into our sight.

Last September, 94-year-old singer Hugues Auffray married his partner, Muriel, who is 45 years younger than him.

There is a 29-year-old age difference between Al Pacino, 83, and his girlfriend, Noor Alfallah, 54 (there is already news that the two have broken up).

Out of France's great tolerance for "New Year's Love" and "New Year's Love", the unblessed marriage we analyzed today is likely not to be a "pot" with a large age difference.

No matter what the final result is, Xiangfa Mei finally hopes that this is a "misunderstood" true love, what do you think? Welcome to share your views in the comment area~

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(Editor: Ji Guo)