Court of Appeal sentences Marine Le Pen to one year of electronic surveillance in parliamentary assistants case
The Paris Court of Appeal has sentenced Marine Le Pen to one year of electronic surveillance and 15 months of ineligibility in the case concerning fictitious jobs at the European Parliament.
Court of Appeal sentences Marine Le Pen to one year of electronic surveillance in parliamentary assistants case
The Paris Court of Appeal issued a ruling on Tuesday that could reshape the political future of the leader of the French far right. Marine Le Pen has been sentenced to one year of electronic surveillance in the trial concerning alleged fictitious jobs at the European Parliament.
In addition to electronic surveillance, the judges imposed on her a penalty of ineligibility lasting fifteen months. This ban on candidacy for public office could nevertheless come to an end as early as this year, according to current estimates.
This judicial case dates back to the period when Marine Le Pen sat in the European Parliament. She and several members of her party, the National Rally (formerly the National Front), were suspected of having used funds intended for European parliamentary assistants to pay personnel who were actually working for the party in France.
The Court of Appeal's ruling now raises questions about the possibility for Marine Le Pen to stand in the presidential election scheduled for April of next year. Ineligibility, even if temporary, constitutes a major obstacle for a candidate who was aiming for the highest office in the state.
This conviction marks a turning point in Marine Le Pen's political career, who had already reached the second round of the French presidential election on two occasions. The parliamentary assistants affair had been closely followed by political observers, as it represented one of the most serious legal disputes affecting the far-right leader.
Source: Postimees