Friday, June 6, 2008
Apparently her views are pretty extreme, and not exactly "likable," (she's a Le Pen supporter -- some detail emerges in this Volokh comment thread) but that doesn't matter does it? Courts shouldn't be in the business of regulating speech, even hateful speech: Brigitte Bardot convicted in race case
PARIS, France (AP) -- A Paris court on Tuesday convicted Brigitte Bardot of provoking discrimination and racial hatred for writing that Muslims are destroying France.
The court also handed down a $23,325 fine against the former screen siren and animal rights campaigner.
A leading French anti-racism group known as MRAP filed a lawsuit last year over a letter she sent to then-Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy. The remarks were published in her foundation's quarterly journal.
In the December 2006 letter to Sarkozy, now the president, Bardot said France is "tired of being led by the nose by this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts."
She was referring to the Muslim feast of Aid el-Kebir, celebrated by slaughtering sheep.
French anti-racism laws prevent inciting hatred and discrimination on racial or religious or racial grounds. Bardot had been convicted four times previously for inciting racial hatred.
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