French presidential candidate Marine le Pen stripped of immunity over ISIS tweet

Beijing [China], Mar. 03 (ANI): Leader of National Front party and co-chair of the Europe of Nations and Freedom group in the European Parliament Marine Le Pen was stripped of her immunity from prosecution over a tweet post in connection with the Islamic State (IS) by the European Parliament in a vote. According to Xinhua, French far-right leader Le Pen, is currently running for the French Presidency. As a Member of European Parliament (MEP), she could not be prosecuted. An investigation into Le Pen was opened by the French judicial authorities following the posting on her twitter account of three violent images that showed the murder of three hostages by Daesh (IS group) on December 16, 2015. One of the three photographs, which were not blurred, showed U.S. hostage James Foley being beheaded. The images were accompanied by the following comment by Marine Le Pen: "This is Daesh!" The French law stipulates that criminal proceedings may not be brought against information society service providers if violent images are removed within 24 hours from the time of notification by the competent authority of the need to do so. Approved by 18 votes in favour to three against, with no abstentions, the Committee on Legal Affairs in the European Parliament on Tuesday recommended to waive the immunity of Marine Le Pen through a plenary vote. The lifting of her immunity, however, would concern only the tweets and not the ongoing probing into the allegation that Le Pen misused public funds by hiring a fake parliamentary aide. (ANI)