Le Pen Tweets Images To Expose Islamist Violence, Now Prosecutors Want Her In Jail
Preliminary charges have been filed against French far-right leader Marine Le Pen for tweeting images to expose Islamic State violence.
The charges were issued for “distribution of violent images” according to the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Nanterre, The Associated Press reported.
If Le Pen’s case goes to court and she’s convicted, she could face three years in prison and 75,000 euros, or $90,000, in fines.
The tweets in question were posted in December 2015 after the Islamic state terror group attacked Paris in November of that same year.
Le Pen posted images of executions by the extremist group, including the killing of American reporter James Foley, and accused the French government of not doing enough to protect the people of France, according to the AP.
The image of decapitated Foley was later taken down after public outcry and Le Pen insisted she didn’t know the identity of the man.
Le Pen didn’t comment on the charges publicly, that were made possible after the French parliament revoked her protection from prosecution.
Her immunity from prosecution as a deputy in France’s lower house was stripped by a cross-party committee in the National Assembly in November over the images, the BBC reported.
“I am being charged for having condemned the horrors of Daesh,” Le Pen told Agence France-Presse. “In other countries, this would have earned me a medal.”
This is just one of many legal cases that have targeted Le Pen or the National Front.
Last year, Le Pen and the party were given preliminary charges that they had used European Parliament aides for party activity using EU-financed salaries. She denied any wrongdoing.
The National Front party also received a blow after Le Pen lost the French presidential election to Emmanuel Macron in May 2017.
Although her “French-first, Islam-skeptic nationalism resonated widely in the wake of Donald Trump’s election and Britain’s vote to leave the European Union,” French voters still chose Macron, according to the AP.
Her father, former National Front leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, published his memoir on the same day the preliminary charges were filed and said in it that he “pities his daughter for her electoral loss,” the BBC reported.
On Wednesday, Jean-Marie Le Pen spoke against his daughter for his attempt to change the name of their party.
“It takes years, decades, to build a credible political name. Wanting to change it is … inexplicable,” he said.
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