French ultra-right leader Marine Le Pen is expected to face charges of incitement to racial hatred back home, now that the European Parliament has stripped her of immunity.

The state prosecutor in Lyon had asked the European Parliament to remove Le Pen's protection from prosecution as a Member of the European Parliament so she could face charges over a speech in 2010 in which she likened Muslim street prayers to the Nazi occupation of France.  In truth, a lack of mosques in France forced Muslims to do their prayers outside.

If found guilty, Le Pen could face a fine of more than A$64,000 and a possible year in jail.

The charges could put a dent in Le Pen’s efforts to put a new, more reasonable face on the far-right Front National party she inherited from her father, Jean Marie Le Pen, while capitalizing on rural and conservative discontent with the ruling Socialist government’s legalization of Gay Marriage and Adoption.