Beating Down the Opposition

For John, BLUF:  I am not sure if I see this as dangerously slow legal action or I see it as the useabuse of Government powers to impact elections.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Prosecutor Demands €5,000 Fine Against Marine Le Pen over Photos Exposing ISIS Crimes

Here is the original in Le Figaro:

5000 euros d'amende requis contre Marine Le Pen et Gilbert Collard pour avoir diffusé des photos d'exactions de Daech

From Breitbrt, by Reporter Chris Tomlinson, 13 February 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

National Rally leader Marine Le Pen and MEP Gilbert Collard were in court this week as prosecutors demand a 5,000 euro fine against the two for exposing Islamic State atrocities by sharing pictures of them on Twitter in 2015.

The two French politicians had posted the photographs after journalist Jean-Jacques Bourdin compared the Front National, as National Rally was formerly known, to the radical Islamic terrorist group.

Both politicians admit to posting the photographs but protested the hate speech charges against them, French newspaper Le Figaro reports, with Le Pen stating: “It is crime, not photographic reproduction of the crime, that undermines human dignity!”

Le Pen compared the images to the photograph of Aylan Kurdi, a child who had drowned during the height of the migrant crisis in 2015 whose picture made front pages of newspapers worldwide, stating: “This photo was published by the entire French media without the prosecutor’s office ever finding a reason to initiate a prosecution of any kind.”

So, the French Government is going after French Presidential Candidate Marine Le Pen for publishing, on Twitter, pictures of Islamic State atrocities.  This factual expression of the depravity of the Islamic State is somehow bad for the public to see.

You don't think that this is an attempt to smear candidate Le Pen because of her strong showing in the polls against President Macron?  No, that kind of thing would be unethical, particularly by a Government Agency.  Heck, this would be like Impeaching and then trying someone after they had left office.

Hat tip to my Wife.

Regards  —  Cliff