>>172234, >>172235, >>172236, >>172237, >>172238, >>172239, >>172240, >>172241, >>172242, >>172243, >>172244, >>172245, >>172246, >>172247, >>172248, >>172249, >>172250, >>172251, >>172252, >>172253, >>172254, >>172255, >>172256, >>172257, >>172258, >>172259, >>172260, >>172261, >>172262, >>172263, >>172264, >>172265, >>172266, >>172267
Meanwhile, Bardot kept talking. Each conviction made her more defiant. She never recanted. Never apologized. Just kept saying what she thought while the French state kept fining her.
The prosecutions revealed a stark truth: France doesn't have free speech. It has permitted speech. Step outside permitted parameters on immigration or Islam, expect criminal charges.
It didn't matter if you were nobody or Brigitte Bardot. Actually, prosecuting Bardot made the point stronger. If even she isn't protected, nobody is.
She lived 91 years, won international acclaim, and became a cultural phenomenon. Then she spent her final decades being prosecuted by her own government for opinions.
That's her obituary: movie star, icon, criminal - for speech. France cannot claim to value free expression while criminalizing its most famous citizens for exercising it.
Bardot died knowing France chose prosecuting her over defending her right to speak. That is the legacy France earned.
Source: French court records, @visegrad24
https://x.com/MarioNawfal/status/2005267490234904762

Mark Parisi @OffTheMarkComic - A Star is Born
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Mark Parisi @OffTheMarkComic - GoodFellas
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