MOSCOW, October 29 (RIA Novosti) - A court in Paris rejected on Wednesday an appeal by French President Nicolas Sarkozy demanding voodoo dolls bearing his likeness be withdrawn from sale, the France-Info radio station said.

The 12.95-euro ($17) set includes a cloth voodoo doll, 12 pins and an instruction manual, as well as a humorous biography of the president. The president's lawyer claims that the Editions K&B publishing house violated the president's "absolute and exclusive right" to his own image and should pay a symbolic fine of 1 euro ($1.30).

According to the manual, the pins are supposed to be pierced into Sarkozy's most famous quotes, including "he who works more, earns more" and "get lost you pathetic idiot." The quotes are printed on the doll itself.

"The non-authorized use of Nicholas Sarkozy's image is neither an offence to human dignity nor a personal attack," the court said in a ruling. "It is within the authorized limits of freedom of expression and the right to humor."

The president's lawyers and spokesperson were not immediately available for the comment.

The litigation immediately boosted sales of the item, making it the best-seller on amazon.fr. A similar kit with a doll of Segolene Royal, Sarkozy's rival in the 2007 presidential race, was ranked sixth.

It was the president's sixth lawsuit since he was elected last year. In February he won a case against the Ryanair airline, which used his image in an advertisement. This spring Sarkozy filed a suit against journalists of Nouvel Observateur, accusing them of violating his privacy by publishing Sarkozy's SMS to his former wife Cecilia.

Sarkozy is currently involved in litigation with Le Point magazine over the publication of extracts from notebooks by Yves Bertrand, the former chief of a French internal intelligence service.