Marine Le Pen faces possible 5-year prison term and ban from office in EU funds embezzlement trial

French member of parliament and President of the far-right National Rally Marine Le Pen delivers a speech in the National Assembly in Paris. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Paris prosecutor on Wednesday (November 13, 2024) requested a five-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office against far-right leader Marine Le Pen, at a trial where she and 24 others are accused of embezzling European Union funds.

The trial, which comes almost a decade after initial investigations started, threatens to undermine her party’s efforts to polish its image ahead of a 2027 presidential vote many believe she can win.

On Wednesday, the Paris prosecutor requested a €300,000 (₹2.67 crore) fine, five years in prison and an ineligibility sentence against Marine Le Pen, with provisional execution. If the court finds her guilty of the charges with this provisional execution, Ms. Le Pen will not be able to run in elections even if she appeals the judgment.

“I note that the prosecution is being extremely outrageous in its demands, particularly with the request for provisional execution, which it wants to impose on everyone being prosecuted,” Ms. Le Pen told reporters while leaving court.

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Ms. Le Pen, the RN party itself, and 24 others — party officials, employees, former lawmakers and parliamentary assistants — are all accused of using European Parliament money to pay staff in France who were working for their party, which at the time was called the National Front.

“I am not surprised by the prosecution’s request for provisional execution. There is a consistency in the prosecution’s demands,” Patrick Maisonneuve, the European Parliament’s lawyer, said.

The trial will last until November 27.