Members of far-right group Generation Identity jailed after anti-migrant operation in French Alps

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Key figures in the far-right group Generation Identity have been jailed in France after carrying out a large-scale operation in the Alps to stop asylum-seekers entering the country.

A court in southeastern France sentenced the three men, including the president of the group's French wing, to six months in prison, imposing the maximum possible fine of €75,000 (£68,000) on the pan-European organisation.

National Identity originated in France in 2012, where its members have been key in peddling an anti-migrant, anti-Islam conspiracy known to have motivated the alleged Christchurch mosque gunman in New Zealand.

French far-right activists have been at the forefront of Europe's growing identitarian movement, with Generation Identity cells emerging across Europe.

The trio were jailed for their role in a roughly 100-strong expedition to stop immigrants crossing the Italian border in April 2018.

Donning blue uniforms, accompanied by helicopters, a small plane and producing a flashy video, members of Generation Identity and Defend Europe climbed to the border near Col de l’Échelle and unveiled a large sign reading "back to your homeland".

But the streamlined nature of the operation has backfired.

Generation Identity president Clement Gandelin, spokesman Romain Espino and Damien Lefevre were charged with "exercising activities in conditions that could create confusion with a public function" - the French equivalent of impersonating an official.

Prosecutors alleged their expedition in the mountain pass could have been interpreted as a police manoeuvre.

Lefevre, who has worked with politicians in Marine Le Pen's National Rally party and is reportedly close to her granddaughter Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, was also charged for his role in organising the expedition.

"This political decision is an honour, a medal, but shows the determination to suppress those who defend France," he wrote on social media.

In addition to prison sentences and fines of €2,000 each, the three were denied their civic rights, notably the right to vote, for five years.

The guilty verdicts may make it easier for French authorities to place a long-desired ban on the group, which favours shock tactics over violence.

Earlier this year, France banned an ultra-right group, Bastion Social, which grew out of the violent student movement, GUD, and shared the same neighbourhood in Lyon's old city as Generation Identity.

The Alps expedition is not their first outing on such a large scale. In 2017, militants using the Defend Europe slogan, used in the Alps, scoured the Mediterranean Sea for migrants making the treacherous crossing from Libya to Italy.

Generation Identity's flashy propaganda caught the attention of the suspect in the New Zealand mosque massacre of 51 Muslims, who sent a €1,500 donation to Martin Sellner, the head of group's Austrian counterpart.

The French group was also sent a donation by the Christchurch shooting suspect, but it has said the funds went into the wrong bank account and weren't received. All deny any previous contact with the suspect.

The wider identitarian movement has also leaked into French politics. A well-known member in Nice, Philippe Vardon, now has a choice spot in the apparatus of the far-right National Rally party.

In the UK, the royal navy has reportedly launched an investigation into two men accused of belonging to the UK's Generation Identity chapter, which is in turmoil after angering its European counterparts by inviting an antisemitic conspiracist to the group's annual conference in July.

Their recent public stunts include mock executions of anti-racist activists by Generation Identity members dressed as Isis fighters outside the Tower of London.

Additional reporting by AP