Formal requisitions “a weapon of mass destruction of the democratic game”. At the trial of the parliamentary assistants of the National Front (FN), Me Rodolphe Bosselut, Marine Le Pen's lawyer, pleaded, Wednesday, November 27, to convince the court of his client's innocence, or at least not to sentence her to a sentence of immediate ineligibility.
Like the lawyers of 24 other defendants and the RN before him, Me Bosselut warns that he will “pleading for release”. But before that, he “some observations”. In particular on the requisitions of the prosecution, which requested against its client five years of prison, of which two years can be adjusted, a fine of 300,000 euros and, above all, a sentence of ineligibility with provisional execution which would apply immediately.
This request for immediate ineligibility suddenly made the possibility that Marine Le Pen would not be able to run in the next presidential election very real, and took everyone by surprise, provoking criticism in her political camp and beyond. “It doesn’t just concern Marine Le Pen, it concerns at least 13 million voters or even the entire electorate, or even the sincerity of the vote, it’s not nothing”defended the advice of the three-time presidential candidate.
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A “severity” of the prosecution “unjustified, gratuitous”
Beyond “citizen emotion”you need a “legal emotion”. In this file, “provisional execution would have disproportionate legal consequences”he said. “Irremediable, definitive. » This “severity” parquet is “unjustified, gratuitous”a “demand for political elimination”. Elle “casts doubt on the very intentions of the judicial institution”accuse Me Bosselut.
The day after the requisitions of which she had denounced « violence » et “excess”Marine Le Pen summarized: “It’s my political death that people are calling for”. The prosecution had justified it by the risk of “reiteration” embezzlement of public funds, which had “repeated” for 12 years (between 2004 and 2016) and had not “interrupted” only because of the report from the European Parliament, which estimated its financial damage at 4.5 million euros.
As for the defendants who denied outright the existence of a ” system “ set up to pay parliamentary assistants “fictitious” with European money, they did not demonstrate during the hearing any “questioning”had accused the prosecution. “We are not here in a political forum, but a judicial one, and the law, the law applies to everyone”.
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A parliamentary practice “free from any fraudulent intention”
Me Rodolphe Bosselut began his pleading by praising the “ total good faith” of his client during the trial. “She came almost every day wanting to explain herself”. Not « naïve » about what she was risking, but with the « force » of “those who know they are innocent”. “She answered all the questions seriously and sincerely, and did not evade any of them. (…) We can blame him for many things but not for having contempt for the court or the judicial institution as the prosecution said.he maintains. “Is there any arrogance in defending oneself? »in a folder filled with « passion » and of « pression ».
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“What I would like to convince the court of is that the parliamentary practice in the European Parliament from 2004 to 2016 accused of my client and the other defendants was not only banal, innocuous, because shared by all European parties, but exempt from any fraudulent intention because considered admitted”.
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Asked about the political consequences of this trial, Marine Le Pen replied that there were ” zero “. “I will do what I have to do in the case of the defense of the French. And this trial which is taking place does not come into consideration in any way.”she said in front of many journalists.
The court will announce the rendering of the judgment on March 31, 2025, at 10 a.m. Before the hearing adjourned, President Bénédicte de Perthuis gave the floor to the defendants one last time. Marine Le Pen did not wish to say any final words at the bar, in accordance with what she had announced the day before.
