Jean-Marie Le Pen, 96, is hospitalized for “analyses”, his entourage told AFP on Wednesday, his daughter Marine Le Pen indicating that her father had been taken care of since “Thursday night”.
“He is 96 years old and he is hospitalized on a regular basis. There is nothing more or less than the episodes that we have already experienced,” Ms. Le Pen declared to several journalists, on the sidelines of the hearing of the criminal court before which she appears.
“There are ups and downs,” said another source, who nevertheless denied “unfounded” rumors about the supposed bedridden state of the finalist in the 2002 presidential election.
The founder of the National Front, which became the National Rally, has seen his health deteriorate for several years. Prosecuted in the case of the assistants of RN MEPs for which his daughter and the party are currently being tried, his case was “disjointed” after a medical expertise had noted “a profound deterioration” of his physical and psychological state , believing that he was unable to “be present” or “prepare his defense”.
“It is established that (Jean-Marie Le Pen) is not capable of giving consent to any act whatsoever,” Marine Le Pen indicated at the end of September, at the opening of the trial.
The latter, as well as her two sisters Marie-Caroline and Yann Le Pen, have been the beneficiaries of a “protection mandate” – a measure comparable to guardianship – since mid-February, which allows them to carry out various acts in the name of their father, alone or in concert.
