Le Pen being tried for Holocaust remarks

French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen has gone on trial for claiming that the Nazi occupation of France was not particularly inhumane," but the Front National founder was not present.

 

Mr Le Pen, 79, was charged with conspiring to justify war crimes and to deny Nazi crimes against humanity, both violations of France’s Holocaust denial legislation.

 

He faces a maximum one-year prison term, a £32,000 fine and a possible ban from holding elected office.

 

The case was originally scheduled to take place this Spring, but was postponed, allegedly to allow Mr Le Pen to run for president of France.

 

The charges are based on an interview he gave to the far-Right, revisionist paper Rivarol in 2005, in which he was quoted as saying: "In France at least, the German occupation was not especially inhumane, even if there were a number of excesses - inevitable in a country of 550,000 sq km (220,000 sq miles).""

 

The paper’s director and the journalist who interviewed Mr Le Pen face the same charges.