A French court has sentenced far-right National Front (FN) founder Jean-Marie le Pen to a suspended three-month jail term for downplaying the Nazi occupation of France.

In addition, Le Pen has been fined EUR 10 000. The Court of Appeal in Paris confirmed Le Pen's 2008 conviction for "disputing crimes against humanity" in an interview in 2005 and upheld his original sentence, DPA reported.

In the interview with the right-wing Rivarol magazine Le Pen said the occupation "wasn't particularly inhumane."

The 83-year-old former FN leader was not in court Thursday for the ruling but told AFP news agency he would appeal his conviction.

At a first trial in 2008 he was found guilty of disputing crimes against humanity. A higher court overturned that decision last year and sent the case back to the Court of Appeal to be retried.

Le Pen, a former paratrooper, founded the anti-immigrant National Front in 1972. He has a number of convictions for racism and anti-Semitism.

His daughter Marine le Pen, the party's current leader, is running for president in elections to be held in April and May 2012.

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