Two young men students 20 and 22 years old, who painted a statue of Victor Hugo with white paint, they were condemned by a French court with the penalty of 140 hours of compulsory work in community service and activities.

The two students extreme right-wing political beliefsthey thought that the statue – the work of a Senegalese sculptor – was too dark and they painted the face with white paint.

Subsequently they announced via the Internet that “on the initiative of local nationalists the statue of Hugo now has a nice white, French color”. Their conviction concerns disasters that, with racist goals, they caused to a public good. In addition to the community service, the two young men will have to cover the costs of restoring the statue. If they do not serve the sentence they face risk of imprisonment for three years.

Counsel one of the two convicted said he was satisfied that the court took into account their young age and the fact that they had a white criminal record, while the Municipality of Benzachon, where the statue is located, and representatives of anti-racist organizations considered the sentence light and expressed the hope that at least it will make sense to the two students.