French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has gone on trial over comments she made five years ago comparing Muslim street prayers to a foreign occupation.
Ms Le Pen, whose National Front party is known for its anti-immigration and anti-Islam views, arrived in court to stand trial on charges of inciting racial hatred in Lyon, where she will face four anti-racism and human rights organisations.
"I have the right, as a political leader, to evoke a crucial issue and it's even a duty for me to do it", she said.
Her popularity on the rise in France, Ms Le Pen faces up to a year in prison and a fine of £33,000. The court's ruling is expected to be set to a later date.
Despite the potential jail term, political experts say she could emerge from the trial even stronger among many National Front voters.
Ms Le Pen's litigious comments referred to Muslims praying on the street outside mosques when they are full.
"That actually is the occupation of territory," she told a crowd of sympathisers in Lyon in 2010.
In France, "occupation" is the generic term used to refer to the period of administration by the Nazis of French territory.
In July 2013, Ms Le Pen was stripped of her European Parliament immunity over the comments.
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