Pen officially charged over Daesh tweets

Hajer M’tiri

PARIS: The leader of of France’s far-right National Front party, Marine Le Pen, was formally charged on Thursday over graphic tweets of Daesh violence she posted in 2015.

The move taken by a judge in the Paris suburb of Nanterre comes after the French National Assembly’s lifting of Le Pen’s immunity last November. European lawmakers had taken a similar decision back in March 2017 regarding the same issue.

In December 2015, Le Pen tweeted three graphic photos of Daesh executions – among them the decapitated body of U.S. journalist James Foley — with a caption “Daesh is THIS!”, following a dispute with a journalist who had compared her party to the terrorist group.

Later, a French prosecutor opened a probe and requested the revocation of Le Pen’s EU and French parliamentary immunity.

Under French law, one can face up to five years in prison and receive a €75,000 ($79,000) fine if convicted on charges of distributing violent images. (AA)