French prosecutors asked Tuesday that Marine Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Front, be acquitted on charges of inciting hatred after comparing Muslim street prayers to the Nazi occupation.

"Mrs Le Pen, by denouncing these prayers in the public space, which did not refer to the entire Muslim community but to a minority, only exercised her freedom of expression," prosecutor Bernard Reynaud said at the trial attended by the 47-year-old in the central city of Lyon.