France, Le Pen found guilty of corruption - Far-right leader sentenced for embezzlement of EU funds
A French court has found far-right leader Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzling EU funds. The soon-to-be-expected sentence could bar her from running for president in 2027, upending the political tide in France.
Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), is leading in opinion polls ahead of the 2027 elections.
Prosecutors had asked that Le Pen face an immediate five-year ban from public office if found guilty, regardless of any appeals process, using a measure called “provisional execution.” Judges can approve, modify or ignore the prosecutors’ request.
An automatic five-year ban would be a major blow to Le Pen, 56, who has said 2027 will be her last run for the top job. She would still keep her seat in parliament until the end of her term.
Le Pen, who did not speak to reporters as she arrived at the court, has accused prosecutors of seeking her "political death", alleging a plot to keep the National Rally out of power. A situation similar to the accusations against US President Donald Trump over his legal troubles.
Le Pen, her party and many other party figures were accused of diverting European Parliament funds to pay party staff based in France. The defendants said the money was used legitimately and the charges narrowly define what a parliamentary assistant does.
The court found Le Pen, eight other people who were EU lawmakers at the time and 12 parliamentary assistants guilty of embezzling bloc funds.
According to the judge, "It was proven that all these people actually worked for the party, that their legislator (the EU) had not given them any tasks. The investigations also showed that these were not administrative errors...but embezzlement within the framework of a system established to reduce the party's costs."
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