France's Le Pen denies racism charges

PARIS, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- France's right-wing political leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, Thursday defended his right to make provocative remarks about the nation's Nazi occupation.

The justice minister asked authorities to investigate Le Pen's comments that the occupation was "not especially inhumane," the BBC reported.

Pen denounced the "political control of thought" in France, saying, "It is rather scandalous that, 60 years later, one cannot express oneself in a coherent and calm way on these subjects and freely pass judgment on the facts of the occupation."

The National Front leader said he would file a complaint against the Le Monde newspaper, which he accused of "manipulating" his words in its account of an interview in the Rivarol newspaper.

"If the Germans had carried out mass executions across the country as the received wisdom would have it, then there wouldn't have been any need for concentration camps for political deportees," he said.

"It's not just from the European Union and globalization that we need to deliver our country, but also from the lies about its history."