French police have opened an investigation into the publication of preliminary results of the presidential election before the end of voting.
French police opened an investigation after several media outlets, including the national Agence France-Presse, broke the law by publishing preliminary results before the polls finally closed in the first round of the presidential election, the attorney general's office said.
The competent body that oversees the implementation of electoral laws reported several media to the police, some of which were reported by Twitter users, and among them, in addition to AFP, two Belgian and one Swiss media organization, one Belgian journalist and one website. .
Some polling stations in France closed at 18 p.m., some at 19 p.m., while in larger cities they were open until 20 p.m.
The authorities have threatened fines of 75.000 euros and legal proceedings if a 1977 law that prohibits the publication of results, predictions and exit polls before voting ends is violated.
In addition to the fact that this warning was ignored by many media outlets, it completely "ignited" the short message exchange network "Twitter", where numerous "fake" results, mocking comments and encrypted messages appeared, which in some cases came to life memory of radio communication from the Second World War.
"Netherlands and Hungary have qualified for the rematch," read one of the messages, which hides the name of socialist candidate François Hollande (Netherlands), who won in the first round, and the origin of second-placed Nicolas Sarkozy (Hungary).
France Press states that the electoral law is increasingly reminiscent of the Magino line of anti-tank defenses, which France built on the border with Germany before World War II, and which did not prevent Hitler's troops from simply bypassing it and attacking through Belgium in 1940.
Certain "tweets" were even reminiscent of coded messages broadcast by General Charles de Gaulle's Free France movement over Radio London to French Resistance fighters in World War II.
"According to observers returning from Syria, Russian tanks left at dawn and are due to arrive in Paris at 20 p.m.," read one tweet, alluding to a possible victory for the socialist candidate and the time polls close.
Hollande has been called a variety of names - from "Gaude", to "Flan", a caramel pudding reminiscent of one of his nicknames, while Sarkozy has been mercilessly called "high heels", for his tendency to try to make up for his short stature with a "Rolex". , because he likes "clinking clocks", and "Stew", because of his origin.
Bonus video:
