A vegan who posted a Facebook message offering 'zero sympathy' for a butcher killed by an Islamist militant during an attack in France last week has received a suspended jail sentence.

Vegan cheese maker Myriam-Serge Jouglet appeared before a judge on a charge of condoning terrorism on Thursday.

She lives in Saint Gaudens, a village not far from the Pyrenees mountains and the town of Trebes, hit by last week's attack.

Christian Medves (pictured), who was chief butcher of Super U, is set to have his funeral later at the church of Trèbes, where he lived with his wife and two daughters

Hero policeman Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Beltrame, who died after swapping places with a hostage, and Hervé Sosna, a 65-year-old retired bricklayer

The coffins of Arnaud Beltrame, Herve Sosna, and Christian Medves were put on display in the town square of Trebes, a small town in southern France

'So then, you are shocked that a murderer is killed by a terrorist.' wrote the animal rights activist, named as Myriam by local media. 'Not me. I've got zero compassion for him, there's justice in it.'

The message sparked outrage online - with France in deep mourning for the four victims of the gunman's rampage - and the message was later deleted.

The defendant received a suspended prison term of seven months, meaning she will not serve any time behind bars unless she re-offends, local prosecutor Cecile Deprade told AFP.

Anyone suspected of approving terrorism or commenting on it favourably can be charged under French law.

Doing so on the internet carries a maximum seven-year jail term and a fine of up to £87,000.

'I can understand that you can love and defend animals, but not to the point where you hate humans,' Franck Alberti, a lawyer who is close to the butcher's family, was quoted as saying by Le Parisien newspaper.

In the post, the woman wrote: 'What, it shocks you that an assassin is killed by a terrorist? Not me, I have zero compassion for him'

The Facebook post also drew condemnation from the French Butchers' Confederation which called it 'dreadful' and urged respect for Medves, a 50-year-old father of two who was head of the meat section in the Super U.

La Depeche du Midi newspaper published a message from the vegan activist earlier this week in which she said she had deleted her comment within two hours and thought it was visible only to her friends, not to the public.

Medves, was laid to rest on Thursday at the church of Trèbes, where he lived with his wife and two daughters.

He was a hyper bon vivant, extremely attached to his family and friends. For his girls, their dad was their idol,' his friend Oliver said.

'He was the happy grandfather of a one-year-old granddaughter and his eldest daughter is expecting her second child,' Mayor of Trèbes Franck Alberti told La Depeche.

Jouglet's conviction comes two days after a left-wing activist received a one-year suspended sentence for hailing the death of another victim of the same attack, hero gendarme Arnaud Beltrame.

Stephane Poussier, who stood for parliament last June, was handed a one-year suspended jail term on Tuesday over comments he posted on Twitter over the same attack last Friday.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe stands by as family members pay their last respects during the funeral service

Poussier had welcomed the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Beltrame, a police colonel who exchanged himself for a hostage but was then killed in an act hailed as heroic.

'Whenever a policeman is shot... I think of my friend Remi Fraisse,' he wrote, referring to an environmental activist killed by a stun grenade fired by police during a 2014 protest over a dam.

'And this time it was a colonel, great! Additionally, it means one less Macron voter,' he said.

Moroccan-born Radouane Lakdim killed four people during his rampage, including three people in a supermarket in Trebes.

Ladkim's first victim, retired winemaker Jean Mazières, 61

Among the victims there were Beltrame and butcher Christian Medves.

Lakdim was later shot dead by police.

President Macron on Wednesday led a national tribute to Beltrame, who swapped places with a woman Lakdim had been holding hostage.

Earlier on Thursday the coffins of Arnaud Beltrame, Herve Sosna, and Christian Medves were put on display in the town square of Trebes.

France the day before held a national homage to Lieutenant Colonel Beltrame, who was given a posthumous Legion of Honor for his heroism in swapping himself for a hostage.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and senior government figures including Interior Minister Gérard Collomb and the Keeper of the Seals Nicole Belloubet attended the service on Thursday morning to pay their respects, speaking to families of the victims and local residents.

President Macron has hailed Beltrame as the symbol of the 'French spirit of resistance' at a huge public memorial in Paris.

In his eulogy to the murdered cop, President Macron said: 'The name of his attacker will be forgotten, but the name of Arnaud Beltrame will live on.'

The French leader vowed to ensure 'he will not have died in vain,' urging the nation to be vigilant in the face of an 'insidious' jihadist threat.