Marine Le Pen faces trial over Muslim Nazi remark

French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen will go on trial for comparing Muslim street prayers to wartime Nazi occupation, party officials and the prosecutor’s office said yesterday.

Le Pen, whom polls see likely to win a regional election in northern France in December, has widened the National Front’s appeal since she took its helm in 2011 by expelling extremists and cracking down on anti-Semitism.

But the party also thrives on concerns over immigration and radical Islam. In 2010, Le Pen criticised Muslims praying in the streets when mosques are full.