France's Le Pen sues Belgian far-right party to stop using her image

Far-right French leader Marine Le Pen has sued a Belgian party to stop it using her face on election pamphlets to drum up votes.

Le Pen never gave permission for her image to be used by Belgium's extreme-right Chez Nous (Our Home) party, her Belgian lawyer Ghislain Dubois said on Wednesday.

Two letters ordering Chez Nous to stop and a court complaint asking for daily fines to be imposed were needed before the party complied, he added.

The head of Chez Nous, Jerome Munier, confirmed the party had withdrawn the Le Pen pamphlets and told members to avoid using images subject to copyright.

He expressed regret that some members had distributed pamphlets bearing Le Pen's face.

Belgium national elections

Chez Nous, founded in 2021, is fielding candidates in Belgium's 9 June national elections. The party is active in the country's southern, French-speaking region.

Le Pen has handed over the reins of the National Rally (RN) party to 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, but remains a presidential hopeful for the party.

The daughter of National Front founder Jean-Marie Le Pen has strived to remake both her image and that of her party to make them more acceptable to mainstream French voters.

Voter surveys put it ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's party in EU elections also to be held on 9 June in France.

(with AFP)

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