THE VERDICT IS RIGHT, BUT THE TRIAL NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED:

French writer Michel Houellebecq has been cleared of inciting racial hatred by saying Islam was “the stupidest religion”.

A panel of three judges in Paris declared that the author was not guilty after he was sued by four Muslim groups.

He made the comments in an interview with the literary magazine Lire in 2001.

I wonder if he can counterclaim now, saying that being called a bigot is hate speech?