Prosecutors have demanded that Jean-Marie Le Pen should
be given a five-month suspended
prison
sentence and a 10,000 euro fine for saying that the Nazi occupation of
France was "not particularly inhumane." LePen is a
French right-wing nationalist politician and the founder and
president of the Front National party.
Le Pen's has been put on trial for "justification of war crimes" and "contesting
crimes against humanity." LePen has been persecuted in France for
several comments made throughout the years. The most famous of
which was referring to the Holocaust as
a detail of history which
resulted in a conviction in 1999.
The most recent charges involve a comment made in a
2005 interview published in the magazine Rivarol. LePen
was quoted as follows:
"In France, at least, the German
occupation was not particularly inhumane, although there were some
blunders, inevitable in a country of 550,000 sq km."
The interview and comments angered the government, Jewish groups
and "anti-racism" organizations.
Even these clearly mild comments have fallen under
France's infamous
"Gayssot" law which makes Holocaust denial
a crime, punishable by fines or imprisonment.
Besides their attack on LePen, the prosecution also requested that the head of Rivarol
magazine, Marie-Luce Wacquez, be given a two-month
suspended prison sentence and be fined 5,000 euros. Futhermore,
they have demanded that
the journalist who conducted the interview be fined 3,500 euros.
The Paris court is due to announce its verdict on Feb. 8. If LePen is
convicted, the French government has demonstrated its complete
failure in the protection of basic human rights including freedom of
speech and freedom of the press.