Marine Le Pen ordered to stand trial for tweeting pictures of Isis killings

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been ordered to stand trial for tweeting pictures of Isis atrocities, including the beheading of American journalist James Foley.

A judge ruled the National Rally president must face a charge of circulating “violent messages that incite terrorism or pornography or seriously harm human dignity”.

She is also accused of a second offence related to the sharing of such content that can be viewed by children.

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Ms Le Pen posted several graphic images of Isis killings in December 2015, a month after jihadists murdered 130 people in terror attacks in Paris.

One of the pictures showed the body of Foley, who was abducted in Syria and executed by Isis in August 2014.

Shape Created with Sketch. Timeline of the Isis caliphate Show all 19 left Created with Sketch. right Created with Sketch. Shape Created with Sketch. Timeline of the Isis caliphate 1/19 ISIS began as a group by the merging of extremist organisations ISI and al-Nusra in 2013. Following clashes, Syrian rebels captured the ISIS headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014 (pictured) AFP/Getty 2/19 Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate in Mosul on 27 June 2014 3/19 Isis conquered the Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar in August 2014, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Pictured are a group of Yazidi Kurds who have fled Rex 4/19 On September 2 2014 Isis released a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. On September 13 they released another video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines 5/19 The US launched its first airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 23 September 2014. Here Lt Gen William C Mayville Jnr speaks about the bombing campaign in the wake of the first strikes Getty 6/19 Isis militants sit atop a hill planted with their flag in the Syrian town of Kobani on 6 October 2014. They had been advancing on Kobani since mid-September and by now was in control of the city’s entrance and exit points AFP/Getty 7/19 Residents of the border village of Alizar keep guard day and night as they wait in fear of mortar fire from Isis who have occupied the nearby city of Kobani Getty 8/19 Smoke rises following a US airstrike on Kobani, 28 October 2014 AFP/Getty 9/19 YPG fighters raise a flag as they reclaim Kobani on 26 January 2015 VOA 10/19 Isis seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on 20 May 2015. This image show the city from above days after its capture by Isis Getty 11/19 Kurdish forces are stationed on a hill above the town of Sinjar as smoke rises following US airstrikes on 12 November 2015 AFP/Getty 12/19 Kurdish forces enter Sinjar after seizing it from Isis control on 13 November 2015 AFP/Getty 13/19 Iraqi government forces make the victory sign as they retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS on 26 June 2016 Getty 14/19 Iraqi forces battle with Isis for the city of Mosul on 30 June 2017 AFP/Getty 15/19 Members of the Iraqi federal police raise flags in Mosul on 8 July 2017. On the following day, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi declares victory over Isis in Mosul Getty 16/19 Members of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign Getty 17/19 Female fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim Square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign AFP/Getty 18/19 Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria in January 2019 They were among the last civilians to be living in the ISIS caliphate, by this time reduced to just two small villages in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor Richard Hall/The Independent 19/19 Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate, on Saturday 26 January 2019 Richard Hall/The Independent 1/19 ISIS began as a group by the merging of extremist organisations ISI and al-Nusra in 2013. Following clashes, Syrian rebels captured the ISIS headquarters in Aleppo in January 2014 (pictured) AFP/Getty 2/19 Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi declared the creation of a caliphate in Mosul on 27 June 2014 3/19 Isis conquered the Kurdish towns of Sinjar and Zumar in August 2014, forcing thousands of civilians to flee their homes. Pictured are a group of Yazidi Kurds who have fled Rex 4/19 On September 2 2014 Isis released a video depicting the beheading of US journalist Steven Sotloff. On September 13 they released another video showing the execution of British aid worker David Haines 5/19 The US launched its first airstrikes against Isis in Syria on 23 September 2014. Here Lt Gen William C Mayville Jnr speaks about the bombing campaign in the wake of the first strikes Getty 6/19 Isis militants sit atop a hill planted with their flag in the Syrian town of Kobani on 6 October 2014. They had been advancing on Kobani since mid-September and by now was in control of the city’s entrance and exit points AFP/Getty 7/19 Residents of the border village of Alizar keep guard day and night as they wait in fear of mortar fire from Isis who have occupied the nearby city of Kobani Getty 8/19 Smoke rises following a US airstrike on Kobani, 28 October 2014 AFP/Getty 9/19 YPG fighters raise a flag as they reclaim Kobani on 26 January 2015 VOA 10/19 Isis seized the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra on 20 May 2015. This image show the city from above days after its capture by Isis Getty 11/19 Kurdish forces are stationed on a hill above the town of Sinjar as smoke rises following US airstrikes on 12 November 2015 AFP/Getty 12/19 Kurdish forces enter Sinjar after seizing it from Isis control on 13 November 2015 AFP/Getty 13/19 Iraqi government forces make the victory sign as they retake the city of Fallujah from ISIS on 26 June 2016 Getty 14/19 Iraqi forces battle with Isis for the city of Mosul on 30 June 2017 AFP/Getty 15/19 Members of the Iraqi federal police raise flags in Mosul on 8 July 2017. On the following day, Iraqi prime minister Haider Al Abadi declares victory over Isis in Mosul Getty 16/19 Members of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign Getty 17/19 Female fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate in Al-Naim Square after taking back the city of Raqqa from Isis. US-backed Syrian forces declare victory over Isis in Raqqa on 20 October 2017 after a four-month long campaign AFP/Getty 18/19 Trucks full of women and children arrive from the last Isis-held areas in Deir ez-Zor, Syria in January 2019 They were among the last civilians to be living in the ISIS caliphate, by this time reduced to just two small villages in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor Richard Hall/The Independent 19/19 Zikia Ibrahim, 28, with her two-year-old son and 8-month-old daughter, after fleeing the Isis caliphate, on Saturday 26 January 2019 Richard Hall/The Independent

Another showed a man in an orange jumpsuit being run over by a tank, while in the third, captured Jordanian air force pilot Muath Al-Kasasbeh was seen being burned alive in a cage in January 2015.

“Daesh is this!” Ms Le Pen wrote in the tweet, using the terror group’s Arabic name.

A judge in the west Paris suburb of Nanterre has now ruled she should stand trial over the images. She could face up to three years in prison and a maximum fine of €75,000 (£66,500) if convicted.

Last year magistrates ordered Ms Le Pen, 50, to undergo psychiatric evaluation to determine if she should go to trial.

The politician, whose party came out on top in France’s European elections last month, has denounced the case as a violation of her freedom of expression.

“I am being charged for having condemned the horrors of Daesh,” she complained last year. “In other countries this would have earned me a medal.”

Ms Le Pen, who has 2.25 million Twitter followers, tweeted the images to a French television journalist who she accused of likening her party to Isis.

She has yet to delete the pictures, which were condemned as “monstrous” by France’s prime minister Manuel Valls.