Le Pen's December 2015 tweets showed executions by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria extremists, including the killing of American reporter James Foley. The charges come while Le Pen's party is in crisis after she lost her presidential bid last year. The party could also end the honorary presidency of Le Pen's father and National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, as part of a protracted family feud. Marine Le Pen's French-first, Islam-skeptic nationalism resonated widely in the wake of Donald Trump's election and Britain's vote to leave the European Union. But French voters overwhelmingly favoured pro-Europe centrist Emmanuel Macron in the May 2017 election, and Le Pen was a distant runner-up.

Source: CBC News March 01, 2018 13:37 UTC