Governor Arnold too busy to help Paris Hilton

(AFP)
Updated: 2007-05-12 08:38

LOS ANGELES - Arnold Schwarzenegger said Friday he has more pressing issues to deal with than whether or not to consider sparing celebrity socialite Paris Hilton from a jail sentence.

Supporters of the hotel heiress had launched an online petition urging the California governor and action-movie hero to grant her a pardon after she was slapped with a 45-day jail term last week.

But Schwarzenegger indicated on Friday that the nascent "Free Paris!" campaign is likely to end in disappointment.

"I've never got any request," Schwarzenegger said when asked if he would give Hilton a pardon, before adding: "But I have many more important things to think about."

In a blog posted on her MySpace homepage on Tuesday, Hilton urged fans to sign the petition being organized by a supporter.

"My friend Joshua started this petition, please help and sign it. i LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!," Hilton said in a message above a link to the petition (http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/PH21781).

The petition claimed Hilton has been used as a scapegoat by authorities seeking to highlight the dangers of drink-driving.

Hilton must begin her prison sentence at the Los Angeles Century Regional Detention Facility on June 5 or else risk seeing her sentence doubled.

She was handed her jail term after a court ruled she had violated her probation by driving twice after having been banned earlier this year following a conviction for drink-driving. Lawyers have said they will appeal the decision.



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