Le Pen sued for IS tweets

paris - Marine Le Pen, leader of the right-wing populist party Front National, is being persecuted by the French Public Prosecution Service because it distributed three photos of Islamic State (IS) abuses through Twitter. Le Pen risks in theory a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.

One of the photos was from the beheading of the American journalist James Foley. She was allowed to do this as an MEP with impunity, but publication of this type of material is punishable in France. 'This is IS', wrote Le Pen with the photos. She later removed Foley's photograph at the request of his relatives.

The indictment against Le Pen is possible because she no longer enjoys parliamentary immunity since November. At the time, the French parliament decided to cancel it because of the controversial tweets.

Le Pen is surprised at the persecution. 'I am being charged with condemning the horrors of IS', she says to the AFP news agency. 'In other countries I would get a medal for that. '