EU parliament lifts Marine Le Pen's immunity
The European Parliament, acting on a request by French prosecutors, voted Tuesday to strip far-right lawmaker Marine Le Pen of her judicial immunity so that she may be tried over a remark she made about Muslims in 2010. ● Le Pen, the leader of France‘s National Front party and a member of the European Parliament since 2004, faces charges of inciting racial hatred for comparing Muslims praying in the street to the Nazi German occupation of Paris during World War II. ● The remark led to protests at a Paris mosque, where people had been praying outside due to overcrowding. The conservative government of the day later banned Muslims from praying in the street, after helping to accommodate the overflow. ● On Monday, Le Pen repeated her 2010 comment, shrugging off the threat of a court case. She said her crime was to have "dared say what the French think, which is that street prayers - which are continuing to take place on French territory - are an occupation." "I will go to court with my head held high to explain that there have to be people in this country who tell the French the truth," she told LCI television, arguing that she was being pursued for a "thought crime."