A RACISM storm is hanging over France's former Front National leader Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has been stripped of his parliamentary immunity over allegations of antisemitism and inciting racial hatred.
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| Jean-Marie Le Pen has been stripped of parliamentary immunity amid racism claims |
The 88-year-old far right figurehead is under investigation after a video of him emerged seemingly making reference to Jewish singer Patrick Bruel and "an oven".
The remark is deemed to have been a reference to the Holocaust, which saw the Nazis ruthlessly slaughter up to 11 million people, often using gas chambers and incinerators.
Mr Le Pen was recorded in 2014 defending his far-right views against verbal attacks from singers such as Bruel and Madonna as well as former tennis ace Yannick Noah.
In the video, he said: "Listen, we’ll just do an oven load next time.”
Mr Le Pen has staunchly defended his comments, saying his choice of words "obviously had no antisemitic connotations whatsoever, except for political enemies or imbeciles".
The anti-immigration politician, who was ousted from the Front National in 2011 by his own daughter, Marine Le Pen, who wanted the party to distance itself from its xenophobic past.
Now he has lost his parliamentary immunity, which protects politicians from prosecution, because his comments were deemed unrelated to his job.
The European Parliament legal team said parliamentary immunity "does not give him license to libel, defame, incite hatred or make remarks that discredit a person’s honour".
He was previously fined €30,000 for denying crimes against humanity by appearing to deny the Holocaust.
His daughter, Ms Le Pen, also faces a similar fate as European Parliamentary President Martin Schulz revealed he had forwarded a police request to suspend her immunity to the institution's lawyers.
The 48-year-old's investigation is alleged to relate to images of Islamic State beheadings posted online in 2015.
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http://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/725271/Jean-Marie-Le-Pen-Marine-France-Front-National-racism-European-Parliament-right-wing
