Request for the waiver of the immunity of Marine Le Pen

The Committee on Legal Affairs adopted the report by Laura Ferrara (EFDD, IT) on the request for waiver of the immunity of Marine LE PEN (ENF, FR).

The French judicial authorities requested that the immunity of Marine Le Pen, Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the Front National (FN) party, should be waived in connection with proceedings relating to the posting on her Twitter account of violent images.

The report noted that in line with the established legal practice of the European Parliament, immunity may be waived where opinions expressed and/or images that are the subject of legal action have no clear or direct connection with the performance of parliamentary duties by the Member of the European Parliament and do not constitute opinions expressed or votes cast in the performance of those duties.

Members recalled that the dissemination of violent images likely to undermine human dignity is an offence under the French Criminal Code.

They recalled that the images posted by Marine Le Pen can be accessed by anyone via Google and that they have been widely reposted on the internet since they appeared on her Twitter account, this does not alter the fact that their violent nature is likely to undermine human dignity.

Members stated that the speed at which legal proceedings have been taken against Marine Le Pen is comparable to the pace of other proceedings in matters relating to the press and other media, and there is no reason to suspect that this may be a case of “fumus persecutionis”, i.e. a situation in which there are signs or evidence of an intent to persecute an individual.

Therefore, on the basis of the abovementioned information, the Committee on Legal Affairs recommended the European Parliament to waive the immunity of Marine Le Pen.