The founder of German anti-Islam group Pegida was found guilty of inciting racial hatred and fined €9,600 on Tuesday.

Lutz Bachmann, who pleaded not guilty, was fined for referring to refugees as "filth", "cattle" and "scumbags" on his Facebook page in October 2015.

Bachmann, 43, avoided jailtime as the court rejected the prosecution's demand for a seven month custodial sentence.

His lawyers said they would appeal the decision, as have the prosecutors.

The verdict allows Bachmann to continue leading the German wing of Pegida, an acronym for Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the Occident, which campaigns against immigration and against the "Islamisation" of Germany.

The group has gained popularity in the past year both in Germany and internationally.

It organises mass protest across Germany and in other countries, protesting for the expulsion of refugees and a closing of borders to Muslims refugees and migrants.

Bachamann's lawyer, Katja Reichel, told the court that it was possible to hack Facebook accounts.

The insinuation that it was not him who made the remarks was quickly rebuffed, when the prosecution showed a video of Bachmann at a Pegida rally in February 2015 saying the post used "a few words that any of us would use".

The judge, Hans Hlavka, said it was "clear" Bachmann was responsible for the comments and that these insults could not be counted as free speech.