In France, Marine Le Pen, as we were talking about earlier, could see her political career come to a sudden end. The prosecution’s requisitions in the context of the affair of the embezzlement of European funds by the National Rally are very heavy. Against the former presidential candidate, the prosecutor requested 5 years in prison, including 2 prison terms. And above all, 5 years of ineligibility with immediate execution.
For several weeks, Marine Le Pen and 24 other senior executives of the National Rally, former National Front, had been on trial for embezzlement of public funds to the detriment of the European Parliament. With, I quote the prosecutor, artificial contracts for parliamentary assistants in order to save the party money.
For several hours, the prosecution detailed the functioning of a system which lasted from 2004 to 2016. The party hired staff supposed to work in Brussels or Strasbourg for its MEPs. When in fact, they were stationed in Paris, serving the party. The damage would amount to more than 600,000 euros.
Of course, Marine Le Pen defended herself by asserting that her jobs were not fictitious. But the prosecution relied on a long police investigation which, in its eyes, demonstrated the opposite.
Several shocks
“We are here in a judicial forum and the law applies to everyone“, insisted the prosecutor, asking that the required sentence apply against Marine Le Pen upon conviction. Even if the three-time presidential candidate appealed. Marine Le Pen, who is herself a lawyer, expected severe requisitions She had envisaged a €300,000 fine and even five years in prison, including two prison terms.
His defenders had already planned to request an adjustment for the prison sentence, perhaps an electronic bracelet. It is therefore very unlikely that she will ever find herself behind bars. On the other hand, his camp was surprised by the mention, on Wednesday, of a law of December 11, 2013 which provides that any elected official found guilty of embezzlement of public funds must be imposed a five-year ineligibility sentence. First shock.
Second shock: these demands for immediate application of the sentence, even if the accused appeal. The prosecutor justified these exceptional provisions by the fact that, for years, the National Rally has increased its delaying tactics to prolong the trial. Concretely, even if she can continue to exercise her mandate as a deputy once convicted, Marine Le Pen could no longer stand in any election for five years.
There is therefore no question of contesting the presidential elections of 2027. Furious, she declared to journalists that the only thing that interested the prosecution was Marine Le Pen to be able to request her exclusion from political life. If the court ever follows the prosecutor, the party’s next presidential candidate could be called Bardella or Le Pen. Marion Maréchal Le Pen.
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