She was at the “center” of an “organized system” aimed at making the European Parliament the “cash cow” of the RN: the prosecution demanded five years in prison on Wednesday in Paris, including two years in prison that could be adjusted, 300,000 fine of euros and five years of ineligibility against Marine Le Pen.
At the beginning of the evening, at the end of their indictment which lasted all day, the two prosecutors were solemn when they called for a prison sentence against the leader of the extreme right – a sentence that could nevertheless be adjusted, it that is, she would not go to prison.
Concerning ineligibility, a decisive question for the three-time presidential candidate, the prosecution is calling for provisional execution. Which means that, if the court follows the prosecution, this ban would be applicable from the conviction, including in the event of appeal.
More broadly, the prosecution is calling for the conviction of all the defendants, including the RN judged as a legal entity, for whom it is asking for a fine of 4.3 million euros, including a firm 2 million euros.
In addition, the public prosecutor requires in particular 18 months in prison including six months closed with three years of ineligibility against the No. 2 of the party Louis Aliot; 10 months suspended sentence and one year of ineligibility against RN spokesperson Julien Odoul; 18 months suspended sentence and two years of ineligibility for Marine Le Pen's sister, Yann Le Pen.
With each time, fines and provisional execution.
– “Cash cow” –
Leaving the courtroom, Marine Le Pen denounces the “violence” and “excess” of the requisitions. “I think that the desire of the prosecution is to deprive the French of the ability to vote for those they want” and to “ruin the party”, she asserts.
Since 9:30 a.m., the two prosecutors have detailed the architecture of a “system” which, according to them, was put in place at the National Front (now RN) between 2004 and 2016, consisting of concluding “artificial contracts” for European parliamentary assistants who actually worked for the party.
For the prosecution, “unprecedented partisan enrichment” must be sanctioned by its “duration” (more than 10 years), its “scale” (4.5 million euros) and its “organized, systematized character”.
The defendants “have made and intended to continue to make the European Parliament, to put it prosaically, their cash cow”, insists Louise Neyton. “We saw a real war machine systematically diverting the amount of envelopes down to the last crumb.”
– “Artificial contracts” –
In the full courtroom, Marine Le Pen, seated in the front row next to Louis Aliot, shakes her head vigorously.
And during the afternoon, when we have just learned that her father Jean-Marie Le Pen, 96 years old, is hospitalized – “as is the case on a regular basis”, she will specify to the press – she leaves the courtroom several times to make telephone calls… And takes the opportunity to comment in front of the journalists on the requisitions underway in the courtroom.
“Their only objective is to prevent me from being my camp’s presidential candidate (in 2027). You have to be deaf and blind not to see it,” she assures.
For the prosecution, this “organized system” aimed to “save” money for the National Rally by using the 21,000 euros monthly envelope from European elected officials, in defiance of democratic rules.
At the time, “the party is in a particularly tense financial situation. Anything that can contribute to reducing charges will be used systematically”, whether “legal or not”, says prosecutor Louise Neyton.
Faced with “the alternative fiction” proposed in defense, the prosecutors dissect, defendant by defendant and contract by contract, “the nature of the work” carried out by the twelve parliamentary assistants, the “link of subordination” that they maintain with “their deputy “European – nine including Marine Le Pen are judged in total.
With a general observation: in proof of work, “there is nothing”, except “the famous standard proof: the press review”, they say. Employment contracts? “Artificial”, without “coherence”.
The defense is due to plead starting Monday and the trial is scheduled to end on November 27. The court will not make its decision for several months.
