hrafnagaldur
2008-01-01, 11:12
Prosecutors told a court on Friday French Front National leader Jean-Marie Le Pen should receive a suspended prison sentence and a fine for saying that the Nazi occupation of France was "not particularly inhumane".
Le Pen's trial for "justification of war crimes" and "contesting crimes against humanity" opened on Friday. It centers around a comment Le Pen made in a 2005 interview with magazine Rivarol, which angered the government, "anti-racism organizations" and Jewish groups.
The prosecution asked that Le Pen be handed a five-month suspended sentence and fined 10,000 euros ($14,530). He denies any wrongdoing and did not attend the trial. His defense team argued that his remarks were not part of an interview but of a casual conversation.
"In France, at least, the German occupation was not particularly inhumane, although there were some blunders, inevitable in a country of 550,000 sq km," he was quoted as saying in the magazine.
French anti-racism laws have made denying the Holocaust a crime, punishable by fines or imprisonment. The prosecution also requested that the head of Rivarol magazine, Marie-Luce Wacquez, be handed a two-month suspended prison sentence and be fined 5,000 euros, and that the journalist who conducted the interview be fined 3,500 euros. The Paris court is due to announce its verdict on Feb. 8
Media Link
Le Pen's trial for "justification of war crimes" and "contesting crimes against humanity" opened on Friday. It centers around a comment Le Pen made in a 2005 interview with magazine Rivarol, which angered the government, "anti-racism organizations" and Jewish groups.
The prosecution asked that Le Pen be handed a five-month suspended sentence and fined 10,000 euros ($14,530). He denies any wrongdoing and did not attend the trial. His defense team argued that his remarks were not part of an interview but of a casual conversation.
"In France, at least, the German occupation was not particularly inhumane, although there were some blunders, inevitable in a country of 550,000 sq km," he was quoted as saying in the magazine.
French anti-racism laws have made denying the Holocaust a crime, punishable by fines or imprisonment. The prosecution also requested that the head of Rivarol magazine, Marie-Luce Wacquez, be handed a two-month suspended prison sentence and be fined 5,000 euros, and that the journalist who conducted the interview be fined 3,500 euros. The Paris court is due to announce its verdict on Feb. 8
Media Link