EU court upholds Le Pen ban

EU court upholds Le Pen ban

Le Pen said the parliament should have voted to expel him

A European court has upheld a decision by the European parliament to strip the French far-right leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, of his seat.

The action against the National Front firebrand stemmed from an assault he made on Socialist politician, Annette Peulvast-Bergeal, in 1997.

He was convicted of assault, and temporarily banned from holding public office in France.

The president of the European parliament, Nicole Fontaine, then withdrew his European parliamentary mandate.

However, Mr Le Pen appealed to the EU's Court of First Instance, and was able to return to his seat in the parliament until Thursday's ruling.

LE PEN'S COURT BATTLE

1997: Slaps Annette Peulvast-Bergeal during parliamentary election campaign

1998: Convicted of assault

2000: Conviction upheld by France's Council of State

October 2000: Stripped of EU parliament seat

January 2001: Parliamentary ban lifted as appeal lodged

2003: Appeal rejected, ban upheld

Mr Le Pen argued that the decision to strip him of his seat should have been taken by the parliament voting in plenary session, instead of by the parliament's president.

But the Luxembourg-based court ruled that there had been no violation of EU laws, because Ms Fontaine's decision was based on French court rulings.

EU laws stipulate that member nations can make rules about the "incompatibility" of MEPs at national level.

He can still take his case to the EU's supreme court, the European Court of Justice.

The far-right leader shocked many observers in France when he came second in the country's presidential race last year.

He later lost the run-off by a large margin.