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Politico (13 November 2024)

By Victor Goury-Laffont

Prosecutors on Wednesday asked that far-right French lawmaker Marine Le Pen be found guilty of embezzlement, sentenced to prison and barred from running for public office — including the French presidency — for the next five years. 

Le Pen, her National Rally party, and 24 other individuals — including current and former French lawmakers and MEPs — are accused of illicitly using European Parliament funds to pay parliamentary assistants for work on party business rather than on EU affairs from 2004 to 2016. Le Pen and her co-defendants have all denied the charges.

Prosecutors asked that Le Pen receive the harshest sentence of all, noting that she was both an MEP and party leader while some of the crimes purportedly took place. They asked the judge to give her five years in prison, three of which would be suspended, and fine her €300,000. The ban on running for public office would extend past 2027, when the next presidential election is scheduled to take place.

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