Bardot fined for racist remarks

The latest court fine is the third in four years for Brigitte Bardot

Brigitte Bardot has been fined 30,000 francs (£3,000) after being convicted of inciting racial hatred - for the third time.

The former movie star and sex symbol was found guilty in a Paris court over comments about the number of Muslim immigrants in her native France.

The latest outburst came in a book she wrote last year called Le Carre de Pluton (Pluto's Square).

In it, she criticises a Muslim festival, in which sheep are ritually slaughtered.

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The book's offending passage is entitled 'Open Letter to my Lost France'.

Bardot laments: "...my country, France, my homeland, my land is again invaded by an overpopulation of foreigners, especially Muslims."

She also hits out at the practice of killing sheep as part of the ritual of some Muslim festivals.

Sex symbol

Bardot, 66, became an international sex symbol in 1956 after starring in the film And God Created Woman, which started a trend for skimpy bikinis.

But it is nearly 30 years since she made her last film and these days she chooses to shun the limelight, unless it is to promote her crusade against cruelty to animals.

She established the Foundation for the Protection of Distressed Animals in 1976 and has made it her life's work, raising $500,000 (£330,000) for the charity in 1987 by selling off her jewellery.

Her previous convictions for the incitement of racial hatred came in 1997 and 1998, when she was again fined for making similar inflammatory comments.