French author guilty of tax fraud

A court in France has found the best-selling author Francoise Sagan guilty of tax fraud.

Sagan, 66, was given a 12-month suspended jail sentence for not declaring over 830,000 euros to the tax authorities.

The money was paid to a construction firm for repairs on her house in northern France.

She was also ordered to pay for the publication of the court's decision in two major French newspapers.

Sagan, who was not in court for the verdict due to ill health, won international acclaim for her first book, Bonjour Tristesse, published in 1954.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service