Le Pen loses EU immunity over violent Twitter posts
PARIS— The European Parliament voted Thursday to lift the immunity from prosecution for French farright leader Marine Le Pen for tweeting gruesome images of Daesh violence, a crime that carries up to three years in prison in France.
The legislature voted by a broad majority in Brussels to clear the way for the possible prosecution of Le Pen over tweets she made in December 2015 showing executions, including the killing of American reporter James Foley by Daesh extremists.
French prosecutors in the city of Nanterre had asked lawmakers to lift the immunity that Le Pen enjoys as a member of the EU Parliament.
Le Pen, a leading candidate in this year’s French presidential election, posted her tweets in response to a journalist who drew an analogy between her anti-immigration National Front party and Daesh extremists. She was trying to show the difference between the two groups but the effort backfired, drawing widespread condemnation.
Le Pen took down the tweet showing the killing of Foley after his family protested, but left up another image of violence by extremists from Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
Under French law, publishing violent images can be punished by up to three years in jail and a fine of about $105,000.
Before the vote, Le Pen on Thursday defended her tweets, saying she just wanted to condemn the barbaric practices of Daesh.
“I’m a lawmaker. I’m in my role when I condemn Daesh, this is my role,” she told French TV station LCP. “And if I don’t fulfil my role, I’m worth nothing as a lawmaker. Nobody can prevent a republic’s representative from condemning Daesh’s acts of violence.”
Her campaign manager, David Rachline, denounced the lawmakers’ actions.
The European parliament decision “marks the difference between those who denounce and fight Islamist fundamentalism and those who want to hide the atrocities,” Rachline said.