Marine Le Pen Faces Court on Charges of Embezzling E.U. Funds
TimeOCT 20 2024
France: Prosecutors Seek Prison Time and Political Ban for Le Pen
France: Prosecutors Seek Prison Time and Political Ban for Le Pen
Above: French right-wing party Rassemblement National (RN) Member of Parliament Marine Le Pen (L) and RN Vice Pres. Louis Aliot (R) walk outside the courtroom during a break in the closing arguments hearing of their trial on Nov. 13, 2024, in Paris, France. Image copyright: Geoffroy Van der Hasselt/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Facts
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, to ban her from public office for five years, and impose a €300K ($319K) 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.
The Spin
Le Pen and her far-right colleagues deserve their current scrutiny, as they are clearly guilty of conducting one of the largest embezzlement scams in French 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.
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