French Elections: Le Pen Loses EU Immunity, Fillon Wanted by 25%
Local Editor
In the latest developments regarding France's presidential elections, the European Union parliamentarians lifted immunity of candidate Marine Le Pen Thursday for tweeting pictures of Daesh's [ISIS/ISIL] violence. Meanwhile, a new poll showed Thursday that one person out of four in France would like Francois Fillon to keep his candidature despite the still growing controversy surrounding the employment of his wife.
Le Pen, who leads her National Front party in the European legislature, is under investigation in France for posting three graphic images of Daesh executions on Twitter in December 2015, including the beheading of American journalist James Foley.
The vote Thursday by a large show of hands in the plenary of the EU Parliament confirmed a preliminary decision taken Tuesday by the legal affairs committee of the EU legislature.
Le Pen's immunity shields her from prosecution. By lifting it, the Parliament allowed legal action against her. The offence being considered is "publishing violent images," which under certain circumstances can carry a penalty of three years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros [$78,930.00].
Separately, a new poll carried out by Harris Interactive for the Atlantico news outlet and RMC broadcaster showed Thursday that 52 percent of the supporters of the center and the right want the Republicans [LR] party nominee Fillon to withdraw and 47 percent among the LR party's supporters are of the same opinion.
The poll showed that 38 percent of the respondents agreed with Fillon's recent claim that a probe into his wife's employment was "a political assassination."
The new survey also showed that the French had grown less confident in Fillon's victory at the elections, with only 17 percent believing that he is certain or likely to win, which is 11 percentage points less than on February 6.
On Wednesday, Fillon confirmed at a press conference that he had been summoned for an interview with examining magistrate, promised to attend and tell the truth and stressed that he would not withdraw his candidature from the presidential race.
The scandal broke out in late January around Fillon's wife allegedly having been paid from state funds for jobs without exercising her duties.
French media also questioned Fillon's children's employment as his parliamentary assistants between 2005 and 2007.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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