Conservative French leader should have 'inciting hatred' charges dropped because her comments comparing Muslims to Nazi occupation are protected by freedom of expression, say prosecutors

Freedom of expression in France?  A novel idea.  Le Pen senior and Brigitte Bardot have often been penalized in France for condemning Islam.  Are the French getting tired of defending Muslims?

Marine Le Pen should have her 'inciting hatred' charges dropped - because her comments comparing Muslim street prayers to Nazi occupation are protected by freedom of expression, prosecutors said today.

The leader of France’s far-right Front National - who could face a year in jail - was in combative mood as she told Lyon Correctional Court: ‘I’ve committed no crime. I’m an honest woman.’

It was in the same south-eastern city in 2010 that Le Pen, 47, evoked the Nazi Occupation while referring to Muslim street prayers.

She said at the time: ‘For those who like to talk about World War Two, to talk about occupation, we could talk about, for once, the occupation of our territory. It is an occupation of part of the territory, suburbs where religious law is applied.

'Sure, there are no armoured vehicles, no soldiers, but it is an occupation nonetheless and it weighs on residents.’

The recorded comments were the main evidence against the Front National leader as she was accused of ‘provocation through discrimination, showing violence or hate towards a group of people because of their religion’.

But prosecutor Bernard Reynaud argued that Le Pen should be acquitted because ‘her views did not target the whole Muslim community’. Mr Reynaud said that her views were ‘shocking’ but they ‘amounted to freedom of expression’.

It will be up to judges to decide the verdict in the case, and not the prosecutor.

SOURCE