French Judge Jokes About Slapping a Witness on Twitter

In France it's quite common and acceptable for judges and lawyers to tweet from the courtroom. One lawyer even has ninety thousand followers.

Unwritten rules such as using a pseudonym and not giving specifics about a case keep them out of trouble. Least til now.

@Proc_Gascogne and @Bip_Ed found themselves in a bit of trouble, earlier this week, and ended up closing their Twitter accounts. The two judges were tweeting back and forth during an attempted murder trial.

Ed, tired of their head judge, suggested they strangle him, so that he and Gascogne might actually get somewhere in the case. Gascogne at one point pondered on what legal troubles he could get into for slapping a witness, after making them cry.

Unfortunately, for the judges, they offended a member of the local press, who outed them not just for their comments, but exposed their identities as well. Both judges have since closed their Twitter accounts and are currently under investigation.

Other journalists have been joined by lawyers and judges, in coming to the support of Ed and Gascogne. In their support they mention that no laws were broken and that it's a matter of freedom of speech. They've also slammed the paper, Sud Ouest, for publishing the article exposing their identities.