A French court is demanding a € 25,000 fine against actress Brigitte Bardot for racial insults

A French court on Thursday demanded a € 25,000 fine against actress Brigitte Bardot for her statements about Reunion residents that she said were “natives who have kept their genes as savages”, in a letter addressed in 2019 to the prefect of this French island in the Indian Ocean.

A fine of 5,000 euros has also been demanded against Bruno Jacquelin, Brigitte Bardot’s press attaché, who is being prosecuted for complicity in public insults. At the request of his employer, he sent the letter to several media outlets, including AFP. Neither Brigitte Bardot nor Bruno Jacquelin were present in the courtroom of the Saint-Denis court, reports AFP. Brigitte Bardot, 85, the creator of a foundation that bears her name and is in charge of animal protection, sent an open letter in March 2019 to Amaury de Saint-Quentin, then prefect of the French island of Reunion.

Claiming that she is “invaded by letters denouncing the acts of barbarism that the people of Reunion are committing on animals”, Brigitte Bardot said that “The natives have kept their genes wild.”

She also compared Reunion to an “island of the devil”, having “a degenerate population still imbued with barbaric traditions from which it has its roots”.

These remarks provoked reactions of indignation on the French island . Annick Girardin, then French Minister for the Overseas Territories, sent an open letter to the actress. “Racism is not an opinion, it is a crime,” she said, the source quoted by Agerpres.

More French associations fighting racism and discrimination (Licra, Mrap, SOS Racisme), the human rights league and Hindu religious associations and groups have filed a complaint against the French actress.

Editor: AA

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