S.R./STA
13. 11. 2024, 21.55
Updated: 11/13/2024, 9:55 p.m
A French court could prevent far-right National Assembly leader Marine Le Pen and main rival of French President Emmanuel Macron from running in the 2027 presidential election.
The French prosecutor’s office is today for a 56-year-old Marine Le Pen demanded a five-year prison term and a five-year ban on standing for election due to misuse of European funds. She is accused of fictitiously hiring assistants to members of her party in the European Parliament. “We are in court here and the law applies to everyone,” insisted the prosecutor. He demanded that the sentence be effective from the moment of conviction, even if Le Pen appeals the court’s decision.
If the court grants the prosecution’s request, the 56-year-old politician will not be able to run for the position of French president for the fourth time in 2027. The prosecution also demanded that the National Assembly be fined two million euros.
Le Pen denies all the charges in the indictment. In her first reaction, she called the prosecution’s request outrageous and accused the prosecutors of trying to destroy the National Assembly. “I think the desire of the prosecutors is to deprive the French of the opportunity to vote for whoever they want,” she said.
More than 20 people are on the dock
The trial of Le Pen and other party leaders began at the end of September. The indictment refers to the employment of assistants to the party’s MEPs, who then did not perform this work.
Along with Le Pen, more than 20 other people sat on the dock, including current and former members of the national and European parliaments. Among them are several prominent individuals and party members, including the father of Marine Le Pen and the founder of the party Jean-Marie Le Penom and the mayor of Perpignan Louis Aliot.
The prosecution accuses them of having established a system by which the contracts of MEPs’ assistants between 2004 and 2016 were provided to party colleagues who were engaged in work in the party and not in European affairs, which constitutes a violation of EU rules. The total amount of inappropriately spent money is close to seven million euros.
Le Pen resigned as party president years ago. So far, she has participated in the presidential elections three times. Her party’s policy includes promoting anti-immigration measures such as limiting social support to French citizens, strengthening law and order and lowering taxes.
Source: svet24.si
