The Paris prosecutorʼs office requested a five-year prison sentence for the leader of the French far-right National Union party Marine Le Pen. She is accused of embezzling money of the European Parliament.
Politico writes about it.
At the same time, the prosecution requests that Le Pen serve three years of this term on probation, and the remaining two years with permission to replace the prison term with wearing an electronic bracelet or other less severe options for restricting freedom. Le Pen also faces a €300 000 fine.
In addition, the indictment demands that Marine Le Pen be banned from running for political office for a period of up to 10 years, the French TV channel BFMTV reports. Le Pen herself said that she plans to run for the post of president of France in 2027.
If Le Pen is found guilty, she can appeal the verdict. The question will be whether the trial will begin before or after 2027, when Franceʼs next presidential election is scheduled.
Together with her, 26 other suspects will be tried, including current and former French legislators and some members of the European Parliament. All of them are accused of paying the staff of the "National Association" from the funds allocated for the work of the European Parliament.
Funds are allocated to European legislators to cover expenses, including salaries for assistants. However, they do not have the right to use this money for the activities of their party. According to the investigation, the "National Union" party spent a million euros each year on the wages of people who were engaged in intra-party operations. The alleged scheme operated from 2004 to 2016.
Le Pen continues to deny any allegations against her.
- Marine Le Pen is a French member of parliament, one of the leaders of the far-right National Union party, which advocates strengthening Franceʼs ties with Russia and opposes aid to Ukraine. The party won a triumphant victory in Franceʼs European Parliament elections earlier this summer, winning 31.5% of the vote, while incumbent President Emmanuel Macronʼs party won half that at 15.2%. Because of this, the president even dissolved the parliament and called early parliamentary elections.
- Although the far-right from the Le Pen party won the first round of the parliamentary elections and even expected to form a monomajority in the parliament, the victory in the elections was unexpectedly won by the left alliance. At the same time, the right-wing radical "National Union" was in third place.
- On July 9, 2024, the Paris prosecutorʼs office opened a judicial investigation against Le Pen on suspicion of illegal financing of the presidential campaign during the 2022 elections. The investigation was launched following a report by the National Commission on Campaign Accounts and Political Finance (CNCCFP) into Le Penʼs campaign account for the 2022 presidential election. According to that report, Le Pen exceeded the legal spending limit for a presidential campaign.
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