Corrida protesters handed heavy fines

ORGANISERS and participants in anti-bullfighting protests last year have been ordered to pay a total of €34,500 in fines and damages.

Three animal rights groups and four leaders have been fined a total of €21,000 plus €4,000 damages for organising ‘illegal’ protests against bullfighting.

The president of the Comité radicalement anti-corrida (Crac) Jean-Pierre Garrigues, president of Animaux en péril Jean-Marc Montegnies, spokesman for the Fondation Brigitte Bardot Christophe Marie and Xavier Renou, also of the Bardot foundation, were fined €3,000 each.

Their organisations were also fined the same amount each for organising protests without notification and “blocking the freedom to work”.

The incidents took place on August 24, 2013 at a bullfighting event at Rion-des-Landes.

In one case, eight people were injured during a day of protests which included an invasion of the stadium and clashes with police.

Later fights were delayed as a result.

STORY:Man seriously hurt in corrida protest

The tribunal at Dax yesterday also ordered the groups to pay €4,000 damages, plus the legal fees and interest of the tournament organisers Cercle taurin de Rion and the commune, who were civil parties in the case.

One protester who had attempted to release bulls during the incident had his case dropped however another was fined €3,000 for organising an illegal protest on November 24 via social media. A third was ordered to pay €1,500 for restricting people’s freedoms. The pair were ordered to pay €2,500 to both the organisers and commune.

The president of Crac, Jean-Pierre Garrigues described the judgements as “totally disproportionate” and said that the groups would be appealing.

Are these fines "totally disproportionate"? Do you support a 'freedom' to organise and carry out bullfights? Or have the protesters been correctly condemned? Have you ever watched a corrida? Join the discussion on our Facebook page.

Photo: Force Anti Corridas/Facebook