PARIS, July 15 (Reuters) – France’s far right National Front
will sue Madonna after she screened footage of party leader
Marine Le Pen with a swastika superimposed on her face at a
concert in Paris on Saturday, a party official said.
The video shown on a huge screen has already been used on
other legs of the U.S. singer’s tour and shows the singer’s face
merging with other public figures, such as Pope Benedict a n d
former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled by
popular protests last year.
The face of the National Front leader appears for a few
seconds, with the Fascist symbol briefly imposed on it, and is
followed by the features of a man resembling Adolf Hitler.
“A private plaintiff’s case for insult will be presented
next week,” Florian Philippot, vice-president of the National
Front, told Reuters.
He called the images an “unacceptable” provocation for
attempting to associate Le Pen, who won 18 percent of the vote
in April’s first-round presidential election in France, with
fascism.
Since taking the reins of the National Front last year from
her ex-paratrooper father Jean-Marie, Le Pen has tried to widen
her party’s appeal by expelling extremists and cracking down on
racist talk and anti-Semitism.
“It is our duty to bring a complaint to defend our voters
and our supporters,” Philippot said.
Although Le Pen’s calls for protectionism and for France’s
to exit the euro currency have won sympathy with some parts of
the electorate, the party won only two seats in the 577-member
National Assembly in last month’s legislative elections, partly
due to France’s first-past-the-post electoral system.
(Reporting by Patrick Vignal; Editing by Alison Williams)
