France: Marine Le Pen loses immunity over Daesh tweets

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS (AA) - The French National Assembly has lifted on Wednesday the immunity of Marine Le Pen, paving the way for prosecution of the far-right leader over graphic tweets of Daesh violence she posted in 2015.

European lawmakers had made a similar move back in March regarding the same issue.

In December. 2015, the leader of France’s far-right National Front party tweeted three graphic photos of Daesh executions -- including the decapitated body of U.S. journalist James Foley, -- with a caption "Daesh is THIS!" following a dispute with a journalist who had compared her party to terror group Daesh.

Later, a French prosecutor opened a probe and requested the revocation of Le Pen's EU and French parliamentary immunity.

Under French law, one can face up to five years in prison and receive a €75,000 ($79,000) fine if convicted on charges of distributing violent images.