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Jean-Marie Le Pen, 93, founder of the main far-right French party, is on trial Wednesday, accused of inciting racial hatred through remarks targeting the Jewish singer and pop actor Patrick Bruel.
Jean-Marie Le Pen already has a series of convictions for hate speech, for scandalous statements about Jews, Muslims, blacks and immigrants.
The latest lawsuit stems from a video posted in 2014 on the party’s website in which Le Pen criticized artists who denounced his extremist positions, including Madonna and French tennis star-turned-singer Yannick Noah.
Asked about French singer and actor Patrick Bruel, Le Pen brought up Bruel’s Jewish origins with a reference to the Holocaust – “I’m not surprised. Listen, next time we’ll do a full oven!”
The taunt unleashed a torrent of indignation, even from the leaders of his own party. Le Pen’s daughter, Marine Le Pen, now president of the far-right organization, criticized what she called a “political mistake”.
Jean-Marie claimed that the comments had no anti-Semitic overtones “except for my political enemies or fools”.
Comments “taken out of context”
Le Pen does not intend to appear in person at the Paris trial, where he is accused of inciting anti-Semitic hatred.
“This case is based only on part of a sentence taken out of context,” said his lawyer. Frederic Joachim, which will ask for the dismissal.
The trial which opens this week has been delayed by several years as Le Pen claimed immunity from prosecution as an MEP, a seat he won in 1984 and held until 2019 .
But his fellow lawmakers stripped him of his legal protection in 2016.
Le Pen, his daughter and other party members – now renamed the National Rally – also face charges of financial misconduct for allegedly using EU funds to pay the salaries of party members unrelated to the European Parliament
Investigators allege that senior officials of the far-right group used € 6.8 million of public funds to finance the party’s work in France.
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