EU lawmakers vote to strip Le Pen of immunity over graphic tweets

European Union lawmakers voted yesterday (28 February) to lift the EU parliamentary immunity of French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen for tweeting pictures of Islamic State violence.

Le Pen is under investigation in France for posting three graphic images of IS executions on Twitter in 2015, including the beheading of American journalist James Foley.

Responding to a request from the French judiciary, the EU lawmakers in the legal affairs committee voted to lift her immunity, officials said. The committee’s decision will have to be backed by the whole parliament in a second vote, possibly this week.

Le Pen’s immunity shields her from prosecution; lifting it would permit legal action against her. The offence being considered is “publishing violent images”, which under certain circumstances can carry a penalty of three years in prison and a fine of €75,000.

Letta: If Le Pen wins, it’s ‘game over’ for EU

Former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta told an audience in Malta on Monday (27 February) that if the leader of the Front National wins the French elections, it would be “game over” for the EU. But there is a silver lining.

MEPs “overwhelmingly voted to lift Le Pen’s immunity”, said Eurosceptic Five Star Movement politician Laura Ferrara. A Parliament official said 18 lawmakers voted in favour of removing Le Pen’s immunity and three voted against.

Le Pen could not immediately be reached for comment.

“Showing and naming the horror of Islamism allow us to fight against it,” Florian Philippot, the vice president of Le Pen’s far-right National Front party, told Reuters.

Le Pen, locked in a three-way race to succeed François Hollande this spring, has already seen her earnings as MEP cut for a different case involving alleged misuse of EU funds.

She has denounced the legal proceedings against her as political interference in the campaign and called for a moratorium on judicial investigations until the election period has passed.

Polls have shown that her legal battles seem to have little effect on her supporters.

Le Pen's headquarters raided by police in EU parliament jobs probe

French police raided the headquarters of Marine Le Pen’s National Front party west of Paris on Monday (20 February) in relation to a probe into alleged misuse of European Union funds to pay parliamentary assistants.

Le Pen’s immunity has been lifted before, in 2013. She was then prosecuted in 2015 with “incitement to discrimination over people’s religious beliefs”, for comparing Muslims praying in public to the Nazi occupation of France during the Second World War. Prosecutors eventually recommended the charges be dropped.

Parlez-vous English, French politicians?

The French are known for their laissez-faire attitude toward speaking English and political leaders are no exception to this cliché. The French presidential hopefuls’ familiarity with the language of Shakespeare also varies from the capable to the shambolic.