French magazine fined over photos of president

NANTERRE, France (AP) — A French court has ordered a gossip magazine to pay 15,000 euros for publishing photos of what it said was a helmeted President Francois Hollande visiting an actress for a secret tryst.

Hollande broke up with his partner Valerie Trierweiler within days of the publication in Closer magazine in January. He has never denied an affair with actress Julie Gayet.

Gayet sued the magazine for violation of privacy. A court in the Paris suburb of Nanterre ruled Thursday in her favor, as often happens in France, which has strict privacy laws. The court ordered Closer to pay 15,000 euros — less than the 54,000 euros Gayet had sought — and publish the verdict on its cover.

Trierweiler won an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit earlier this month against the same magazine.