Le Pen loses seat
01 August 2003
The extreme right-wing leader of the Front National, Jean Marie Le Pen, lost his European parliament seat in April when the EU's Court of First Instance dismissed his challenge to a barring order issued after he assaulted a rival politician. The incident occurred in 1997 when Le Pen hit Annette Peulvast-Bergeal during a parliamentary election campaign. He was convicted of assault the following year and temporarily banned from holding public office in France. The decision was upheld by the French Council of State in 2000 and in October of that year he was stripped of his EU parliament seat. The ban was lifted in January 2001 after Le Pen lodged an appeal. It was this appeal that was rejected on 10 April.