FN expels 'Hitler salute' councillor
‘Brutal’ Marine Le Pen says the party has had enough of being smeared with Nazi innuendos
A FRONT National regional councillor has been thrown out of the party after being shown in a photo giving a Hitler salute in front of a Nazi flag.
Alexandre Gabriac condemned the photo as a fake, saying it had been doctored and released two days before the second round of the Grenoble cantonal elections to discredit him.
However, a party inquiry decided the picture "had a strong chance of being real" and recommended that he be reprimanded.
Party leader Marine Le Pen had the final decision on his fate and expelled him from the party, saying she was being "brutal" because the Front National had had enough of being smeared by this type of affair.
She said: "People should know that the Front National will not allow this type of behaviour that carries such a repugnant ideology."
Gabriac was said to be a member of the Pétainist Oeuvre Française movement.
The expulsion is a further move in her bid to get rid of the party's fascist image after last December's quasi-ban on members attending meetings while showing Celtic cross or other tattoos or Lonsdale or Fred Perry shirts. Flags other than the Tricolour and regional flags were also banned at meetings and the party said it wanted to get rid of the "skinhead" image.
