MUNICH, Oct 30 (Reuters) - German prosecutors said on Friday they had opened formal investigations into French nationalist leader Jean-Marie Le Pen for trivialising the Holocaust in remarks made last year during a visit to Germany.
Prosecutors in Germany have said they want to investigate Le Pen's comment that the murder of six million Jews in Nazi gas chambers was a "mere detail" of history.
Munich prosecutor Peter Schlicht said his office had received formal notification from the European Parliament, in which the leader of France's anti-immigration National Front sits, that Le Pen's immunity had been lifted.
The parliament voted overwhelmingly to lift his immunity on October 6.
The move came at the request of Munich prosecutors to clear the way for a possible trial in Germany.
Schlicht said he expected Le Pen to be questioned by the end of the year, but that it was not clear whether this would be done by the French authorities or by German investigators.
It was also too early to say whether charges would be filed, he said.
"Now that the European Parliament has lifted his immunity we have been able to start our investigation," Schlicht said.
A judicial investigation is the first step towards bringing charges.
Le Pen has admitted the remark, but said that "detail" meant something different in French.
It is illegal in Germany to deny or trivialise the Holocaust. The offence, known as the "Auschwitz lie" is included in a law against incitement to racial hatred. The maximum penalty is five years in jail and a stiff fine.
Le Pen made the comments at the launch of a biography entitled: "Le Pen the Rebel" in Munich.
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