Norwegian convicted murder and black metal musician Varg Vikernes was sentenced by a court in Paris on Tuesday for inciting racial hatred and justifying war crimes. Vikernes was given a six month suspended sentence and fined 8,000 euros, and ordered to pay costs of 1,500 euros.
Neither Vikernes nor his lawyer Julien Freyssinet were in court for the verdict, and had ignored all recent requests for comment, reported Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
The 41-year-old was initially suspected of planning a terrorist attack, and police raided his family’s farm in central France last July. He was released without charge three days later, but was then indicted in August for allegedly targeting Muslims and Jewish people and justifying war crimes on his blog.
During the trial, Vikernes denied having written the 10 excerpts from his blog that were read out in court. He said they’d been written by other people claiming to be him, which is why he’d changed his name to Louis Cachet.
Vikernes previously told NRK French police had fabricated evidence against him and he would appeal if convicted, while Freyssinet believed the case was simply an attempt to rescue some of the pieces after the dramatic raid on his home by terror police.
In the 90s, Vikernes served 16 years of a 21 year sentence in Norway for stabbing another metal musician to death and burning down several churches.
newsinenglish.no staff
