Marine Le Pen Faces Court on Charges of Embezzling E.U. Funds
TimeOCT 11 2024
Paris prosecutor Nicolas Barret is asking a court to sentence right-wing National Rally (RN) party member Marine Le Pen to five years in prison, ban her from public office for five years, and impose a €300K ($316.8K) fine.
Le Pen and 24 other party members face embezzlement charges for allegedly misusing €4.5M ($4.75M) in parliamentary funds. They're accused of paying parliamentary staff with these funds, though the staff reportedly only worked on party business.
While Le Pen has yet to be convicted, and the trial is not scheduled to end until Nov. 27, the prosecution, should their request be granted, is asking for the political ban to take effect immediately, whether Le Pen appeals or not.
Le Pen's and her far-right partycolleagues deservesdeserve itstheir current scrutiny, as it'sthey are clearly guilty of conducting one of the largest embezzlement scams in France's history. This trial is finally exposing National Rally's true ambitions: to prioritize racist and nationalist goals over lawful governance. A political party like RN, which seeks to divide social benefits based on the national origin of citizens, should never be in charge of public funding.
France’s predominantly left-leaning judiciary is unabashedly using harsh legal measures against Le Pen and her party to eliminate their competition ahead of the 2027 election. Like in the US with Trump, the liberal legal establishment is increasingly weaponized against political opponents. This tactic clearly sidesteps democracy, depriving voters of their choice and pushing personal ideologies over impartial justice.