Last month we reported the trial of Varg Vikernes had begun in France, where he was arrested for allegedly inciting racial hatred and exalting war crimes due to his offensive blog postings. Today Norwegian news outlet The Local is reporting the trial is over, and Varg has receieved a six month suspended prison sentence for his hate crimes, in addition to a fine of €8,000 ($10,000).
Vikernes continued to claim innocence during the trial, stating "at any given moment 350 people pretending to be Varg Vikernes on Facebook", adding that "anybody can very easily put up a blog" that appeared to be one of his. Clearly, the court wasn’t entertained by stories.
Vikernes, nor his lawyer were present during the verdict reading.