Wednesday, 4 June 2008

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Brigitte Bardot convicted of provoking racial hatred

Actress fined and ordered to pay damages

Brigitte Bardot criticised the Muslim Festival of Sacrifice

Former French screen siren Brigitte Bardot was fined nearly $25,000 on Tuesday after being convicted of provoking discrimination and racial hatred for writing that Muslims are destroying her country.

The court in Paris also ordered Bardot, 73, to pay $1,555 in damages to a leading French anti-racism group known as MRAP, the Associated Press reports.

Bardot, an ardent animal-rights activist, had written a letter in December 2006 to the then-Interior Minister (and now, President) Nicolas Sarkozy in which she criticized the Muslim festival of Aid el-Kebir, which reportedly is celebrated by slaughtering sheep.

Bardot's attorney, Francois-Xavier Kelidjian, said he would discuss a possible appeal with the star, who was once considered France's answer to Marilyn Monroe.

By Stephen M Silverman