Jean-Marie Le Pen’s extreme right-wing National Front won a slander suit Thursday that is likely to boost its stature two weeks before regional elections here.
A Marseille court ordered industrialist Bernard Tapie to pay 1,500 francs (about $300) to each of three National Front members who complained of verbal abuse.
Tapie, whose Socialist-backed candidates are battling Le Pen in southern France, had declared publicly in January that those who voted for Le Pen were “bastards.”
Moreover, Tapie, who is owner of both the Adidas sporting goods chain and the Marseille soccer team, also called Le Pen “a reincarnated Nazi” who would use any means to obtain power if he does not win an election legitimately.
About 30 members of the National front sued Tapie for damages. All but three of the cases were dismissed on technicalities.
Tapie’s candidates are running on the so-called Energy South ticket, against Le Pen’s National Front candidates in Lyon and the region called Provence-Alpes-Cote d’Azur.
There have been predictions that the National Front could capture 15.5 percent of the vote, even, some say, more than 20 percent of the vote in Lyon, France’s second-largest city, and 30 percent in Provence-Alpes.
It is expected to be Le Pen’s best performance to date.
The ruling Socialist Party, at the nadir of popularity, is not expected to poll more than 18 percent. The moderate right-wing opposition is conceded 33 percent and the Communists 8 percent.
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