The founder of France’s far-right National Front party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, has been charged with inciting hatred for alleged antisemitic remarks in 2014, his lawyer said on Saturday.
Frederic Joachim said the remarks by his client had been misinterpreted and his comments cut short.
The situation goes back to June 2014 when Le Pen in a video clip posted on the FN website railed against a number of critics including pop star Madonna and Yannick Noah, the French singer and former tennis champion.
When asked about another critic — French Jewish singer Patrick Bruel — Le Pen said that he would be part of “a batch we will get next time,” using the word “fournee” for “batch”, evoking the word “four,” which means “oven.”
SOS Racisme called it “the most antisemitic filth,” a pledge by the FN founder to put his critics in their place using a pun suggesting Nazi gas chambers.
The remarks were also denounced by the FN and his daughter, Marine Le Pen, who took over the party leadership and is now the FN presidential candidate in this year’s election.
“The word ‘fournee’ that I used has no antisemitic connotation, except for political enemies or imbeciles,” Jean-Marie Le Pen responded.
The now 88-year-old former paratrooper, who has had multiple convictions for inciting racial hatred and denying crimes against humanity, once described Nazi gas chambers as a “detail” of history.
The European Parliament, of which the elder Le Pen is a member, in late October lifted his parliamentary immunity in the case.
