Marine Le Pen criticised by James Foley’s parents over uncensored images of Isis execution victims

French far-right leader faces police probe after posting graphic Isis propaganda photos

Adam Withnall
Thursday 17 December 2015 09:05 GMT
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The leader of the French far-right, Marine Le Pen, has been criticised by the parents of Isis victim James Foley for posting graphic execution images on social media.

The Front National leader tweeted uncensored photographs of Mr Foley’s decapitated corpse, an Isis hostage being burned alive in a cage and another being run over by a tank to her more than 830,000-strong following online.

Ms Le Pen was responding to provocative statements from the BFM-TV host Jean-Jacques Bourdin, who appeared to liken Isis to the National Front, but could now face police action over the pictures.

In a statement, Mr Foley’s parents said they were “deeply disturbed” to see a graphic image of their son’s corpse used to make a political point.

“As we have said before, our focus is on Jim’s life and all the good that he did in the world. We choose to use our tragedy to improve the world around us, and Le Pen’s actions go against everything Jim and the James W Foley Legacy Foundation stand for.”

The French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, condemned Ms Le Pen’s actions on Twitter, describing the images as “monstrous”. “Madame Le Pen: inflaming public debate, political and moral failing, non-respect for victims,” he wrote.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, asked about the tweets in parliament, told politicians he has taken the case to a section of the judicial police that deals with illicit content on the internet so it can look into the matter “as it does each time these photos are diffused”.

“They are propaganda photos of Daesh,” Mr Cazeneuve said. He called them “abject, an abomination and a veritable insult to all victims of terrorism”.

Bourdin is known for courting national controversy on his morning show on RMC radio and BFM TV. On Wednesday, while discussing extremism with a Middle East expert, he referred to “links ... not direct links between the National Front and Daesh, but this isolation in identity that in the end is a community of spirit”.

Ms Le Pen’s tweets, in response to those comments, came three days after her Front National party suffered a stinging defeat in critical regional elections, failing to take any regions.

The leader since came out victorious in a legal battle Tuesday when a Lyon court acquitted her of inciting hatred for denouncing prayers in the streets by Muslims.

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