An extreme far-right member of the European Parliament (MEP), Marine Le Pen, has lost her immunity from prosecution over hateful remarks against Muslims.
According to Swedish MEP Cecilia Wikstrom, the Legal Affairs Committee voted to lift the leader of the French National Front’s immunity for voicing hateful remarks by comparing Muslim praying in the streets to “Nazi occupation,” in 2010.
During a speech three years ago, Le Pen said, “For those who want to talk a lot about World War II, if it’s about occupation, then we could also talk about” Muslim prayers in the streets).
Le Pen added that “there may not be any tanks or soldiers, but it is nevertheless an occupation.”
MEPs have since been trying to strip Le Pen of her immunity.
“This is a good step towards stopping the racist discourse in France which is rarely punished. Since the Sarkozy-era, Islamophobia has been getting worse and worse, and if they don’t put an end to it, who knows how far some people will go?” said Mahmoud Bourassi with the Collective of French Muslims.
French Muslims have welcomed the nearly unanimous vote on Le Pen.
Muslim leaders in France say that they have no choice but to pray in the streets as a result of a serious shortage of mosques in the country. They say they are in desperate need of at least 2,000 mosques.
France has approximately five million Muslims.