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>From the NY Times:

French Farmer Is Sentenced to Jail for Attack on McDonald's
By SUZANNE DALEY

PARIS, Sept. 13 ? The farmer who became something of a national hero last
year for leading an attack on a McDonald's restaurant was convicted of
criminal vandalism today and sentenced to three months in prison.

Judge François Mallet, who delivered the verdict and the sentence in the
nonjury trial, said he hoped the jail term would make the farmer, José Bové,
"finally listen to reason."

The sentence was harsher than the token one-month prison sentence, with
another nine months suspended, that the prosecutor asked for at the end of
Mr. Bové's raucous trial in July.

Mr. Bové, a sheep farmer who has proved media savvy since his action made
him a celebrity, looked somber as he left the courthouse. He vowed to
continue his fight against globalization and what he views as bad food.

"It's not the risk of going to prison that is going to stop us from
protesting," Mr. Bové said on the steps of the courthouse. "The important
thing is for the movement to continue to grow whatever the price is that we
may have to pay here today."

>From the beginning it was clear that Mr. Bové's attack on the American
fast-food giant had tapped into a deep well of public discontent and a
feeling of powerlessness on subjects ranging from genetically modified foods
to the power of the American economy.

His particular protest was prompted by the United States' decision to levy
high tariffs on Roquefort cheese, pâté de foie gras and other luxury
imported food in retaliation for the European Union's decision to ban
American hormone-treated beef. But it came to represent much more.

During his trial in the small southwestern town of Millau, thousands of
supporters showed up. For two days the atmosphere of a French Woodstock
prevailed as teenagers with green hair gathered along with middle-aged men
with ponytails and retirees wearing T-shirts that said, "The world is not
merchandise and I'm not either."

But today only a few dozen supporters were on hand in Millau, where the
local industry is the production of Roquefort cheese. Few people in France
expected Mr. Bové, who organized the attack, to be handed a jail term. In
this country protesting is a national pastime and activists are rarely given
prison sentences. None of Mr. Bové's nine co- defendants were sent to
prison. Three were given two-month suspended sentences, five were fined
about $300 and one was acquitted.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Bové, 47, said he was surprised by the
verdict. "I think this is a very severe judgment," he said. "The magistrate
didn't understand the movement or the motivation behind what we did."

He said an appeal had already been filed and that the trial would
effectively take place again in about one year before the Court of Appeals.
In the meantime, Mr. Bové, who now has a busy speaking schedule, a far more
prominent job with his union and dinner invitations from high-level
government officials, said he would keep up with his activities as usual.

Before the attack on the McDonald's, Mr. Bové was a local activist and union
official living in a small stone farm tucked in the craggy hills of the
Larzac region. His activism involved local issues, like opposing use of
nearby land for an army base.

Nowadays, Mr. Bové, who has an amiable grin under his handlebar mustache,
trots the globe. He said he would be in Bangalore, India, at the end of the
month to take part in a protest against genetically modified grain. "The
combat will continue," he said.
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