French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been ordered to stand trial in France for sharing pictures of Islamic State (IS) atrocities on Twitter, reports The Journal.
Le Pen, who is president of the Rassemblement national (National Rally) party in France (the former Front national), shared images in December 2015, weeks after 130 people were killed in the Paris attacks.
In 2017 she reached the final round of the presidential elections but lost to Emanuel Macron.
A judge in the western Paris suburb of Nanterre ordered Le Pen to stand trial on charges of circulating “violent messages that incite terrorism or pornography or seriously harm human dignity” and that can be viewed by a minor.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros.
Last year, an investigative magistrate called for Le Pen to undergo psychiatric tests in connection with the IS tweets.
The 50-year-old trained lawyer, whose party topped France’s vote in the recent European elections, has denounced the case as a violation of her freedom of expression.
She tweeted the images after a French journalist drew a comparison between Islamic State group and her party.