France to Prosecute Marine Le Pen for Criticizing Muslims

PARIS (Reuters) French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen will go on trial for comparing Muslim street prayers to wartime Nazi occupation, party officials and the prosecutor’s office said on Tuesday.

Le Pen, whom polls see likely to win a regional election in northern France in December, has widened the National Front’s appeal since she took its helm in 2011 by expelling extremists and cracking down on anti-Semitism.

But the party also thrives on concerns over immigration and radical Islam. In a meeting in 2010, Le Pen criticised Muslims praying in the streets when mosques are full.

She will be judged on Oct. 20 over charges of “incitement to discrimination over people’s religious beliefs,” the prosecutor’s office in Lyon said.

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