French men who hanged severed pig's head on mosque door handed suspended prison sentences
The two men nailed the headof a wild boar to the door of their local mosque
The two unnamed men, aged 20 and 22, were handed suspended sentences of three months and six months respectively after they were found guilty of “inciting hatred on religious grounds”, an offence which carries a maximum penalty of five years.
The pair have also been ordered to pay the two plaintiffs – mosque officials and the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF) – 2,000 euros (£1,794) in damages each.
They will also have to pay €1,000 (£895) to cover the plaintiffs’ legal fees.
The men, who are from Pont-de-Beauvoisin, a small town in southwest France, near Lyon, told judges that they deeply regretted offending the local Muslim community, adding that the decision to hang the severed pig’s head on the door of their local prayer hall had been nothing more than a “bad joke” and that they had been “under the influence of alcohol”.