November 22, 2005
Two leading regional politicians of the right-wing French National Front party have been fined € 5,000 (US$ 6,000) each for incitement to discrimination and hatred based on race or religion. A court in the eastern French city of Strasbourg convicted Patrick Binder and Xavier Codderens on Monday. The two men wrote and distributed a pamphlet in March this year denouncing a subsidy for the construction of a mosque which had been granted by the regional parliament of Alsace, of which both men are members. The document entitled "No cathedral in Mecca, no mosque in Strasbourg!" called for support in the "fight against the islamization of Alsace" and was illustrated by incisive cartoons. The two men will also have to pay a fine to the organization International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism.
