Marine Le Pen was sentenced to four years in prison and was banned from running for France’s 2027 presidential election after being convicted of millions of euros in the European Parliament. The far-right leader, the leader in the presidency, was convicted along with several party officials for transferring more than €3 million (£2.5 million) of EU funds to employees in France.
The judge ruled on Monday, March 31, the prosecutor’s request to ban Le Pen from public office for five years and adopted a “temporary enforcement” measure that took effect immediately regardless of appeal. The court sentenced four years to prison, suspended for two years and fined 100,000 euros.
In the judgment, Le Pen stood up sharply, rushed out of court, and was kicked out of court.
Prosecutors accused Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) of treating the European Parliament as a “money cow” and alleged that she was both a member of the European Parliament and a leader of the party. Le Pen and her co-defendant argued that the funds were used legally, and the case misrepresented the role of parliamentary assistant.
But, Judge Benedict de Perthuis said: “It has been confirmed that all these people are actually working for the party, their [EU] The MPs gave them no task. “The investigation also shows that these are not administrative errors … but misappropriation errors within a system framework that reduces the costs of political parties,” she added. ”
Along with Le Pen, eight other former or current national assembly members, who also served as members of the European Parliament, and 12 parliamentary aides were convicted. The judge stressed Le Pen’s central role in the plan, telling the court: “Since 2009, the core of the system, Navy Linle Pen has authority and determination in the system established by his father.”
The prosecutor was initially sentenced to five years in prison, suspended for three years, fined 300,000 euros, and banned from public office for five years.
Le Pen condemned the trial as a political attack aimed at derailing her candidate qualifications, echoing former U.S. President Donald Trump’s claim about her own legal battle. In an interview Sunday’s La Tribune She posted before the verdict, saying, “The judge has the power of life and death.” During the trial, she also believed, “The failure will deprive me of the influence of being a presidential candidate. Behind this, 11 million people voted for the movement I represent. So tomorrow, it is possible, and, it is possible, and, it is possible, it is possible, and, it is possible, and millions of French people will think they have been deprived of their candidates in the election.”
For more than a decade, Le Pen has been working on mainstream her gatherings, elaborating on her extremist image to expand its appeal. From 2011 to 2021, she led a national rally, renaming it from the National Front, away from the racism and anti-Semitism of her father Jean-Marie Le Pen with early racism and anti-Semitism. In the 2022 presidential election, she received 41.5% of the vote against President Emmanuel Macron, marking the highest ever result for the far right of France.
With her political future uncertain, her focus turned to her 29-year-old national rally leader Jordan Bardella, who would be widely expected to be her prime minister if she wins the presidency. But political analysts believe Badra may work to the same support as Le Pen. Some within the party criticized his leaders for being too focused on personal ambitions rather than party unity.
According to the verdict, Badra condemned the ruling and wrote on social media: “Today, it is the Marines’ condemnation: French democracy was executed.”
