Court reduces Marine Le Pen's ineligibility to 45 months
The Paris appeals court has lightened the penalty for the far-right leader. She can now run in the presidential election, but remains under electronic surveillance.
Court reduces Marine Le Pen's ineligibility to 45 months
On Tuesday, the Paris appeals court delivered its verdict concerning the leader of the Rassemblement National. The ban on holding elected office has been reduced from five years to forty-five months, opening up the possibility for Marine Le Pen to participate in the presidential election.
According to Rzeczpospolita, over this period, thirty months constitute a suspended sentence, whilst the remaining fifteen months have already been served by the person in question. This means that in principle, no legal obstacle now stands in the way of her candidacy for the highest office of the state.
At the same time, the court imposed a fine of one hundred thousand euros on Le Pen and three years of deprivation of liberty. Two years of this sentence are suspended, and for one year she will be subject to electronic surveillance. That same evening, during a programme on TF1, she announced her intention to lodge an appeal to the Court of Cassation, arguing that such a procedure suspends the execution of the sentence, including the electronic bracelet.
The politician was found guilty of misappropriation of funds from the European Parliament. According to the judgment delivered in the spring of last year, for at least ten years, she is alleged to have run a system whereby money intended for parliamentary assistants in Brussels and Strasbourg funded party structures in Paris.
Previously, Le Pen had stated that she would not seek the Élysée whilst under judicial scrutiny. However, in the course of the afternoon, the principal figures in her party put pressure on her. In the evening, she confirmed her candidacy for the next presidential election and designated Jordan Bardella as future Prime Minister in the event of victory.
In the 2012 ballot, she had received 17.9 per cent of votes, 33.9 per cent in 2017, and 41.45 per cent in 2022. Recent polls give her genuine chances of winning.
Source: Google News PL — Crime (pl)