France

Brigitte Bardot fined for racism for the fifth time

Article published on the 2008-06-04 Latest update 2008-06-04 11:33 TU

Brigitte Bardot
(Photo: DR)

A French court handed down a 15,000-euro fine to the movie star and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot on Tuesday for inciting hatred against Muslims in a 2006 letter to then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy.

In the letter, which was published in her foundation’s newsletter, Bardot agrued that Muslims should stun sheep before slaughtering them during the festivities of Eid al-Adha.

But she went further.

“I’m sick of being led by the nose by this whole population which is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing their ways,” she wrote.

The judge ruled that the statement was a clear reference to Muslims. France has had an anti-racism law since after the Second World War. The most recent one, passed in 1990, condemns “all racist, anti-Semitic or xenophobic acts”.

This is Bardot’s fifth conviction for such offences. In 1997 she was fined 1,500 euros for writing about the “Islamisation” of France and calling Muslims “invaders”. In 2004 she was fined 5,000 euros for inciting racial hatred in a book.

The anti-racist group Mrap, which dubbed Bardot a "repeat offender", received 1,000 euros of the most recent fine as one of the civil parties in the lawsuit.

“We hope she will finally learn some lessons," Mrap said in a statement. "Islamophobia, which is equal to other forms of racism is a crime, not an opinion.”

The prosecution had asked for a two-month prison sentence along with the fine. She did not appear in court for the ruling.

Her lawyer, François-Xavier Kelidjian, said he did not know whether she would appeal against the sentence, but he said she was “tired of this kind of prosecution” and that “she will not be silenced in her defence of animals”.