Threatened with five years of ineligibility after the prosecution's requisitions as part of the RN trial, the president of the far-right deputies also risks 5 years in prison, including two years and a fine of 300,000 euros.
Severe requisitions for Marine Le Pen. Accused by the Paris prosecutor's office of being at the “center” of an “organized system” aimed at making the European Parliament the “cash cow” of the RN, the prosecution requested in particular a sentence of ineligibility of 5 years, provisionally executed. If the sentence is indeed upheld, it would apply immediately, even if appealed. A catastrophe 3 years before the 2027 presidential election for the movement.
The possibility of an electronic bracelet
But the president of the RN deputies also risks big on other levels. The Paris court prosecutor thus requested 5 years in prison, including two years. As with many sentences of this length, the leader of the far-right party would not go to prison but would be placed on an electronic bracelet.
Very strict conditions would then be required as provided for by law: ban on leaving French territory, handing over identity papers and obligation to report to the police station once a week. This electronic surveillance is accompanied by more or less strict house arrest.
Suffice it to say, very bad news for Marine Le Pen, accustomed to increasing the number of trips between her constituency in Pas-de-Calais and her home in Yvelines, without even mentioning the impossibility of increasing the number of trips throughout France.
300,000 euros fine to pay
Another request from the prosecutors: a fine of 300,000 euros for Marine Le Pen. A relatively large sum for the former candidate at the head of assets of 1.2 million euros according to her declaration published by the High Authority for Transparency in Public Life in 2022.
To justify its severity, the prosecution cited “partisan enrichment” which allowed the National Rally to “finance its growth, its influence, its propaganda for years”.
“We saw a real war machine to systematically divert the amount of envelopes, down to the last crumb,” insisted prosecutor Louise Neyton.
Remedies that would take years
If the court follows the prosecution's requisitions, Marine Le Pen should undoubtedly appeal the magistrates' decision. There are numerous avenues of appeal, from a simple appeal to the Court of Cassation, taking several years.
As long as a conviction is not final, legal sanctions are not carried out. Suffice to say that the application of the prison sentence against Marine Le Pen, like her fine, has little chance of arriving before 2027.
But faced with the threat of a 5-year ineligibility sentence with provisional execution which allows ineligibility to be immediate and not suspended by an appeal, Marine Le Pen is gambling on her political survival. Such a sanction would in fact make his candidacy for the next presidential election impossible.
Enough to push the entire movement to denounce “relentlessness” against Marine Le Pen. The party launched an online petition “to defend democracy”.
