Bardot convicted of inciting racial hatred

Brigitte Bardot was convicted of inciting racial hatred today for portraying Muslims in a negative light in a book, comparing them, as the court said, to “invaders, cruel and barbaric”.

Bardot and her publisher were fined €5,000 each by a Paris court. She had risked a year in jail.

Bardot, aged 69, the 1960s sex symbol who became an ardent animal rights campaigner, was not present for the verdict.

At a hearing in May, she told the court that she never meant to harm anyone with her book, A Cry in the Silence, published last year.

“I never knowingly wanted to hurt anybody. It is not in my character. If I did hurt someone, I’m sorry,” she said.

The fine is to be paid to two anti-racism groups who had filed the complaint.

During her May trial, Bardot said that her book – which topped France’s non-fiction best-seller list last year – was but a simple critique of the religious practices of Muslims and a denunciation of those terrorist attacks committed by Islamists.

“Among Muslims, I think there are some who are very good and some hoodlums, like everywhere,” she said at the time.