Jean-Marie Le Pen, the 93-year-old founder of France's main far-right party, is on trial Wednesday on charges of inciting racial hatred through comments directed at Jewish pop singer and actor Patrick Bruel.
Jean marie Le Pen already has a string of hate speech convictions, for scandalous statements about Jews, Muslims, blacks and immigrants.
The latest judgment comes from a 2014 video on the match's website in which Le Pen criticized artists who denounced his extremist stance, including Madonna and French tennis star-turned-singer Yannick Noah.
Asked about the French singer and actor Patrick BruelLe Pen referred to Bruel's Jewish origins with a reference to the Holocaust: "I'm not surprised. Listen, we'll do a full batch next time!"
The mockery sparked a torrent of outrage, even among the leaders of his own party. Le Pen's daughter, Marine Le Pen, now president of the far-right organization, criticized what she called a "political error."
Jean-Marie claimed that the comments had no anti-Semitic overtones "except to my political enemies or morons."
Comments 'taken out of context'
Le Pen does not intend to appear personally at the trial in Paris, where he is accused of inciting anti-Semitic hatred.
"This case is based only in part on a sentence taken out of context," his attorney said. Frederic joachim, who will seek to have the charge dismissed.
The trial that begins this week was delayed for years, while Le Pen claimed immunity from prosecution as a member of the European Parliament, a seat he won in 1984 and held until 2019.
But his fellow lawmakers stripped him of legal protection in 2016.
Le Pen, his daughter and other members of the party, now renamed the National Rally. they also face financial misconduct charges for allegedly using EU funds to pay the salaries of party members outside the European Parliament
Investigators allege that senior members of the far-right group used 6.8 million euros in public funds to finance the party's work in France.
