On July 2, the European Parliament decided by a majority vote to lift parliamentary immunity from French National Front leader Marine Le Pen, reports Agence France-Presse .

Thus, parliamentarians satisfied the request of French law enforcement agencies, who suspect Le Pen of inciting racial hatred. There is no word yet on the reaction of the leader of the right-wing party to this decision of his colleagues in the European Parliament. Previously, she called herself a dissident who was being persecuted for freely expressing her beliefs. In addition, Le Pen said that she was not afraid of trial, since she could easily prove her innocence.

French prosecutors opened a case against Le Pen in 2011. The reason for this was her statements made in Lyon a year earlier. She then compared the sight of Muslims praying en masse on the streets of French cities with scenes of the Nazi occupation of France in the early 1940s. At the same time, she added: “At first, the number of women wearing headscarves began to increase, they were replaced by burqas, and now the streets are filled with praying Muslims. We need to be honest about this. This is an occupation. Without tanks and soldiers, but occupation. And people suffer from it.”

After protests by Le Pen supporters in 2011, Paris authorities banned mass prayers on the streets. Later, a law was approved prohibiting appearance in public places in niqabs that completely hide a person’s face.

The daughter of National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, Marine Le Pen is a constant target of attacks from European leftists who consider her views on issues of illegal immigration and intercultural relations too radical. She is also disliked within European bureaucracies because she has repeatedly questioned the need for close European integration, advocating for the preservation of French sovereignty and identity.

At the same time, her ideas enjoy a certain popularity in France. In the last presidential election in the first round, she received almost 18 percent of the vote, finishing third.

European Parliament strips Marine Le Pen of immunity