Court of Appeal: Marine Le Pen's conviction upheld, sentence reduced
French justice has upheld the guilt of the leader of the National Rally in the fictional parliamentary assistants affair, whilst reducing her deprivation of civic rights.
Court of Appeal: Marine Le Pen's conviction upheld, sentence reduced
Judges at the Paris Court of Appeal have upheld the verdict rendered against Marine Le Pen in the misappropriation of European public funds affair, whilst mitigating certain sanctions, which could theoretically allow her to seek the highest office in 2027.
According to NBC News, the magistrates confirmed the guilt of the figurehead of the French far right. However, they reduced the duration of her electoral ban, initially set at five years, which could reopen the possibility of a presidential candidacy.
Nevertheless, the court imposed on Le Pen, 57, the wearing of an electronic monitoring device for twelve months. This constraint could render any electoral campaign difficult on logistical and political grounds. She herself had suggested that she would renounce standing if she had to wear such a bracelet.
Le Pen had been found guilty in March of last year of having used 1.4 million euros of European Parliament funds to pay two officials of her political formation, then named the National Front, as parliamentary assistants. Members of the Strasbourg Parliament receive allowances for their expenses and to remunerate their collaborators, but cannot use them to finance partisan activities.
Investigations revealed that these recruitments, carried out over the 2004-2016 period, did not represent isolated cases but were part of a wider mechanism of fictional jobs.
Furthermore, Le Pen had been sentenced to four years' imprisonment, two of which suspended, accompanied by a financial penalty of 100,000 euros. The remaining two years were to be served under home detention with electronic monitoring.
Her political formation, renamed the National Rally in 2018, had also received a financial penalty of 2 million euros, half of which suspended.
Le Pen, who came second behind Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 consultations, was perceived as the main contender to succeed the head of state before this conviction.
Jordan Bardella, current president of the National Rally, reiterated his unwavering support for his predecessor. He stated that no argument justified the exclusion of Marine Le Pen from the decision of French voters.
Le Pen is to speak on a TF1 television programme, where she could unveil her future political intentions. She retains the ability to lodge an appeal before the Court of Cassation, although it is unclear whether the jurists would order the suspension of the sentence pending a final decision.
Source: Google News MT