Marine Le Pen convicted on appeal for fictitious parliamentary posts at European Parliament
The leader of the National Rally has been found guilty of misappropriation of public funds by the Paris Court of Appeal, which imposed one year in prison with electronic monitoring and ineligibility for fifteen months.
Marine Le Pen convicted on appeal for fictitious parliamentary posts at European Parliament
French justice has confirmed Marine Le Pen's guilt in the affair of fictitious parliamentary assistants at the European Parliament. The Paris Court of Appeal delivered its verdict in early afternoon, imposing heavier sentences than those handed down at first instance.
The leader of the National Rally was found guilty of misappropriation of public funds. The judges imposed a sentence of one year in prison with placement under electronic surveillance. They also pronounced her ineligible for fifteen months, with an additional thirty months suspended. This deprivation of civic rights could compromise her candidacy for the presidential election scheduled for next spring.
Despite this verdict, she announced her decision to run for the highest office. In an interview granted to the TF1 television channel, she declared that she would lodge an appeal in cassation against this decision. "This evening, I am a candidate in the presidential election," she stated before the cameras.
The legal risk remains entirely present for her campaign. The conviction on appeal strengthens the legal obstacles to her participation in the ballot, even though the cassation procedure could suspend the implementation of certain sentences.
Marine Le Pen had already run for the French presidential election three times previously. Eliminated in the first round in 2012, she had reached the second round in 2017 and in 2022, each time against Emmanuel Macron. In each election, she had improved her score, without however managing to win. Her defeat in 2022 was partly explained by the tactical voting organised by the left-wing electorate in favour of the incumbent candidate.
The legal affair concerns the alleged financing of party collaborators through funds allocated to the parliamentary group within the Strasbourg assembly. Investigators suspected the existence of fictitious posts that enabled the financing of national political activities.
Source: WELT
Source: Google News LU DE