In an October 2019 editorial on the website of her Foundation, Brigitte Bardot had called the hunters "subhuman of abject cowardice" and "terrorists of the animal world".
She was tried Thursday in her absence by the Arras court for public insult.
Brigitte Bardot was tried Thursday in her absence by the Arras court for public insult to the hunters and their boss, Willy Schraen, treated in particular as "sub-men", remarks capable of stirring up hatred, have - they argued.
The prosecutor requested a fine of 6,000 euros against the ex-star, noting his "persistence in the delinquent action", with already five convictions for defamatory and discriminatory remarks.
She had called the hunters "terrorists of the animal world"
The former actress, 86, had requested the referral of the case to attend the hearing, but ultimately did not make the trip, producing a medical certificate to justify her absence. Her husband Bernard d'Ormale was present. In an editorial from October 2019, still accessible on the website of her Foundation, Brigitte Bardot treats the hunters as "subhuman of abject cowardice" and "terrorists of the animal world", citing the president of their Federation , Willy Schraen as a "glaring example".
In a letter to the court, she acknowledged these remarks, made "perhaps in a crude manner", but responding according to her "to a major concern of the French".
"We were able to let some excess of language pass, (Brigitte Bardot) is a passionaria, but this time, she went too far, in an extremely dangerous context", pointed out the lawyer for hunters, Me Denis Delcourt-Poudenx, claiming to intervene constantly for two years in cases of death threats against hunters.
Decision reserved as of June 29
The notion of "sub-man" was "invented by the Ku Klux Klan and popularized by the Third Reich", argued the lawyer, highlighting "the proximity between the animalist culture and the extreme, extreme, extreme right ", while Brigitte Bardot publicly supported Marine Le Pen during the 2012 presidential election. Her remarks" tend to stir up violence on social networks "," people take them at face value and would be quick to put all this violence in application, "lamented Willy Schraen, assuring that he had never made any disrespectful remarks against him.
For the defense, Me François-Xavier Kelidjian pleaded that the words of his client were part of a debate of general interest, in which excessive comments were made on both sides and in a context where "the buzz precedes the clash ". Brigitte Bardot "has always been a big mouth" and "has only her word, she has no weapons" to bring the cause of animals, he stressed to the press at the end of the meeting. 'hearing. The decision was put under advisement as of June 29.