Cassation Le Pen: prosecutor Heitz promises decision before first round
The prosecutor-general at the Court of Cassation states that the court will rule on Marine Le Pen's appeal before the presidential election. Le Pen remains presumed innocent during the proceedings.
Le Pen's appeal to the Court of Cassation: the Court commits to ruling before the presidential election
According to lefigaro.fr, the prosecutor-general at the Court of Cassation, Rémy Heitz, declared on Thursday on France Inter that the court would issue its decision on Marine Le Pen's appeal before the first round of the presidential election.
Marine Le Pen announced on Tuesday 7 July her appeal to the Court of Cassation, following her conviction on appeal for embezzlement of public funds in the National Front parliamentary assistants case. The sentence includes notably 15 months of ineligibility.
"We are ready to proceed and we will do everything to meet this objective, because we have committed to it," affirmed Rémy Heitz. The magistrate recalled that a schedule had already been announced, and that the court of appeal had itself done everything to respect it. The Court of Cassation intends to follow the same approach.
Heitz also confirmed that Marine Le Pen remains "presumed innocent". The appeal suspends in fact the execution of the ruling issued on appeal. "She is convicted by the court of appeal, but because of this appeal, she is not definitively convicted and therefore remains presumed innocent," he clarified.
The prosecutor-general nevertheless acknowledges that it is still "too early" to pronounce on precise timescales. The case is only at "an early stage": the Court does not yet know how many appeals will be filed, "what arguments will be developed by the parties," nor what the complexity of the case will be. "Several scenarios therefore remain possible," he indicated. Heitz nevertheless wanted to reassure: "the judges of the Court are accustomed to dealing with sensitive cases."
When asked about a possible reform of ineligibility rules, the prosecutor-general referred the question to the legislature, whilst defending the functioning of the current judicial system. "It is normal, and fortunately, that everyone can assert and use their rights of appeal in a democratic country," he concluded.
Source: Google News LU FR