- Title: FRANCE-LE PEN Jean-Marie Le Pen in court to contest suspension from party
- Date: 12th June 2015
- Summary: NANTERRE, FRANCE (JUNE 12, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** VARIOUS OF FORMER LEADER AND CO-FOUNDER OF FRENCH FAR-RIGHT NATIONAL FRONT PARTY, JEAN-MARIE LE PEN, ARRIVING IN COURT WITH MEDIA AROUND HIM CROWD OF JOURNALISTS VARIOUS OF LE PEN ENTERING COURTROOM SCUFFLE BETWEEN POLICE AND MEDIA VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF COURT HOUSE MEDIA WAITING OUTSIDE COUR
- Embargoed: 27th June 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: France
- Country: France
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVADFV7CCN2XW51ETDCRWUGYXZAI
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: France's far-right National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, whose party membership has been suspended by his own daughter, appeared in court on Friday (June 12) to contest the decision.
Last month, party chief Marine Le Pen suspended her father's membership and called a meeting to strip him of his title of honorary chairman after the former paratrooper repeated his view that Nazi gas chambers were a mere "detail" of World War Two.
"It was an excuse to get rid of Jean-Marie Le Pen and of what he represents, that is to say, the fundamental political line of the National Front, the one which has been supported for over 40 years. There is a political turn towards the left it seems," said Le Pen after the hearing.
The 86-year-old arrived at the Nanterre tribunal, outside Paris, surrounded by hordes of cameramen and photographers.
Opinion polls this year have suggested Marine Le Pen will head the field in the first round of presidential elections due in 2017, although she is not expected to be able to muster enough support to triumph in the subsequent second-round ballot.
Since taking the helm in 2011, Marine Le Pen has sought to rid the party of its anti-Semitic image and position it as an anti-immigrant, Eurosceptic force offering protectionist policies to shelter France from globalization. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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