French far-right leader Marine Le Pen ordered to undergo psychiatric evaluation

A French court has ordered far-right leader Marine Le Pen to undergo a psychiatric assessment as it probes her decision to publish graphic images of Islamic State executions on social media.

The 50-year-old head of the National Front — recently rebranded as the National Rally — posted three gruesome photos on Twitter in December 2015 after a journalist told a French television program that her party shared a "community of spirit" with the extremist group.

"ISIS is THIS," Le Pen wrote in an outraged response to the accusation, attaching pictures of a man being burned alive, another being run over by a tank, and the headless corpse of American journalist James Foley.

French law prohibits the dissemination of "violent messages that incite terrorism or … seriously harm human dignity."

Le Pen, a former member of the European Parliament, was only put under formal investigation in March after that body voted to strip her of immunity as part of an unrelated fraud investigation. If convicted, she faces up to three years in jail and a fine of €75,000 ($113,000 Cdn).

Today, Le Pen reacted angrily to the court's assessment order, posting a photo of the legal papers on her Twitter account and calling the decision "crazy."

Later, speaking to reporters, she suggested that the evaluation is part of a wider attempt to silence her and the party, and said that she will skip the tests.

"I'd like to see how the judge would try and force me do it," Le Pen said.

Legal experts were quick to point out that such an assessment is in fact required under the law to establish whether she suffers from any mental illness that might have diminished her capacity to understand what she was doing when she posted the images. The psychiatrist will also determine whether she poses a risk to herself or the public.

Other European populists were quick to leap to her defence.

"A court orders a psychiatric assessment for Marine Le Pen. Words fail me! Solidarity with her and with the French who love freedom!" said Matteo Salvini, Italy's interior minister and leader of the far-right League party, in a statement.

The National Front/Rally and its leader have suffered a number of setbacks since Emmanuel Macron resoundingly defeated Le Pen in the run-off election for France's presidency in 2017.

French banks, which had denied her requests for campaign loans, closed her personal and party accounts last fall. Le Pen denounced the moves as political "persecution."

And she has been ordered to repay almost 300,000 euros ($455,000 Cdn) to the European Parliament after an internal investigation determined that she improperly used her office budget to pay aides to do non-parliamentary work for the National Front.

Le Pen, who maintains that she did nothing wrong, is appealing the findings and has refused to pay up.

But the EU has been playing hardball, garnishing her salary and obtaining a temporary order from a French court to stop her party from receiving €2.35 million ($3.6 million Cdn) in state subsidies.

"The investigating judges are applying a death sentence by confiscating our public grant," she complained in July.

A final decision will handed down Sept. 26.

Le Pen has been busy trying to turn all those controversies to her advantage and whip up public sympathy.

"Our political adversaries want us to fail," she told a rally in the the northern town of Hénin-Beaumont earlier this month. "And when I hear the president of the Republic say that the National Rally is not a political opponent but an enemy, I can only conclude that he is doing everything within his power to break us down, to make us disappear from the country's political life."

And Le Pen is already campaigning for next spring's European elections, trying to form alliances with other far-right parties and tap into "The Movement," a new Steve Bannon-organized venture to raise funds and support for European populists.

The strategy may be working.

As Macron's popularity plummets amidst the scandal over his former bodyguard's physical assault of anti-government protesters, Le Pen's fortunes are rising.

A poll last month put the National Rally "coude à coude" with the president's En Marche party, both with 21 per cent support for the coming European vote.