Brigitte Bardot can probably stop holding out hope for any United Nations ambassadorships.
The French screen icon was convicted by a Paris jury this morning of provoking discrimination and racial hatred over a letter she published claiming that Muslims were destroying France, her fifth race-related conviction in the past 11 years.
Bardot was also fined $23,345 for the letter, which she wrote to then Interior Minister, now President Nicolas Sarkozy, in which she stated, "I've had enough of being led by the nose by this population that is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing its acts."
The judge rejected the prosecution's recommendation of a two-month jail sentence, instead handing down the fine and the order that the court's ruling be printed in the newsletter of Bardot's animal rights foundation, where the original letter was published.
Bardot, a longtime and ardent animal rights advocate, was particularly referring to the Muslim feast of Aid el-Kebir, which is celebrated by slaughtering sheep. In her letter, she argued that Muslims should stun the animals before slaughtering them.
The 73-year-old singer-actress sent the letter to Sarkozy back in December 2006 and subsequently published it in her foundation's quarterly journal.
Last year, MRAP, a French antiracism group, filed suit over the dispatch, citing France's strict antiracism laws against inciting hatred. France is currently home to Europe's largest Muslim population, estimated at roughly 5 million.
While Bardot was not present for today's court hearing, she penned yet another epistle on her seemingly unrepentant behalf.
"I'm sickened by how [these organizations] are harassing me. I will not shut up until stunning is carried out on animals before their ritual slaughter."