The prosecution requested Thursday, October 7 a 25,000 euros fine against Brigitte Bardot during a hearing of the Saint-Denis judicial court for having treated the Reunionese as "
natives who have kept their wild genes
" in a letter sent in 2019 to the prefect from the island.
A fine of 5,000 euros was also required against Bruno Jacquelin, Brigitte Bardot's press attaché, who is being prosecuted for complicity in public insults.
At the request of his employer, he forwarded the disputed letter to several media, including AFP.
Neither Brigitte Bardot nor Bruno Jacquelin were present at the hearing.
Read alsoAnd Bardot… created Saint-Tropez
Creator of a foundation bearing her name and working for the protection of animals, the ex-actress, 85, sent an open letter in March 2019 to Amaury de Saint-Quentin, then prefect of Reunion.
Claiming to be "
invaded by letters (...) denouncing the barbarity that the Reunionese exert on animals
", Brigitte Bardot said that "
the natives have kept their genes of savages
".
She had also compared Reunion Island to "
the Devil's Island
" with "
a degenerate population still imbued with (...) the barbarian traditions which are their roots
".
"Racism is not an opinion, it is a crime"
These invectives had caused great indignation in the island. Annick Girardin, at the time Minister of Overseas Territories, had sent an open letter to the former actress. "
Racism is not an opinion, it is a crime
" she recalled. The deputy Jean-Hugues Ratenon (LFI), the Licra, the Mrap and SOS Racisme, the human rights league and Hindu religious associations and groups then lodged a complaint against the former actress.
Brigitte Bardot had apologized to the Reunionese by justifying her anger by what she considers to be the "
tragic fate
" of the animals on the island. “
When you are intelligent, you think about what you write, there it is stupidity (...). She speaks of reminiscences of cannibalism, there they are reminiscences of colonialist thought
”exclaimed at the hearing Master Axel Vardin, lawyers of Jean-Hugues Ratenon and Hindu associations. "
We are in 2021, that's enough
" he added. "
A racial insult is something unacceptable, whatever its context, all the more coming from someone who uses his notoriety to promote a cause
" estimated the prosecutor Bérengère Prudhomme. "
Madame Bardot's words are insulting, hurtful,
”she continued.
The defense of animals, "
that's the life of Brigitte Bardot
".
Animal distress "
is a reality in Reunion,
" replied master Catherine Moissonnier, lawyer for the former actress and her press officer.
The judgment has been reserved and will be rendered on November 4.
