French leader guilty over Nazi comments

PARIS, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- French far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen plans to appeal his conviction for denying the Nazis committed crimes against humanity during the World War II era.

Le Pen, 79, was convicted Friday and given a three-month suspended sentence for denying a crime against humanity and for complicity in condoning war crimes, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday.

Le Pen, who also was fined nearly $16,000, had called Nazi Germany's occupation of France during World War II "not particularly inhuman" in a magazine interview in 2005. His attorney said Le Pen, the founder of the National Front, would appeal the conviction.

Le Pen nearly won the French presidency in 2002 and then was abandoned last year by a large number of his party who chose to support Nicolas Sarkozy.