Marine Le Pen, member of parliament and French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National – RN) party leader, arrives at the RN party headquarters in Paris, France, July 1, 2024.
Benoit Tessier | Reuters
The leader of France’s far-right National Assembly Marine Le Pen on Monday was found guilty of misappropriating EU funds, according to Reuters and French media, in an historic trial that could halt her future presidential election hopes.
The judgment, which found Le Pen and eight of the party’s MEPs (members of the European Parliament) guilty of embezzlement, means Le Pen could face a 300,000 euro ($325,000) fine, prison term and an immediate five-year ban from public office — which would prevent her from running in the 2027 presidential election.
The court has not yet announced the sentence that applies to Le Pen and her co-defendants. The sentences are expected to be announced late this morning following the reading of the judgment, Reuters reported Monday.
This outcome throws France’s powerful right wing into disarray at a time when Le Pen is leading opinion polls ahead of the next presidential vote.
Le Pen and 24 other members of her political party, Rassemblement National, were accused of diverting over 3 million euros ($3.3 million) of European Parliament funds to pay staff based in France instead.
Le Pen and her co-accused had denied the charges, while the party describes the trial as a politically-motivated witch hunt.
French broadcaster BFM TV reported Monday that the conviction automatically results in Le Pen being barred from running for office but it remains to be seen whether this will be “provisionally enforced” and therefore immediate.
The twelve assistants tried alongside the MEPs were also found guilty of receiving stolen goods. The court estimated that the total damages amounted to 2.9 million euros, by having the European Parliament “take charge of people who were actually working for the party” of the far-right, BFM TV reported.
State prosecutors have asked that Le Pen face an immediate five-year ban from public office if found guilty, using a so-called “provisional execution” measure that would disregard any appeals process, Reuters reported. It noted, however, that judges can adopt, modify or ignore prosecutors’ requests.
It’s widely expected that Le Pen will launch an appeal against the conviction if found guilty.
Ahead of the verdict, Le Pen said she hoped the judges in the Paris Criminal Court on Monday would show clemency.
“I’m waiting for the decision,” Le Pen said In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, published on Saturday, and translated by Google.
“I read here and there that we’re nervous. Personally, I’m not, but I understand that people might be: with provisional execution, the judges have the power of life or death over our movement. But I don’t think they’ll go that far,” she added.
Le Pen’s trial has cast a shadow over a strong renaissance for National Rally in recent years; the party won the first round of a snap parliamentary election last summer before the country’s leftwing alliance won the second round.
France was plunged into political chaos last year after Macron called a snap election after suffering a heavy defeat at EU elections. The president then appointed centrist Michel Barnier to lead a minority conservative government, but this proved short-lived as the government ultimately failed to get support from the left and right for its 2025 budget plans.
The new centrist government under Francois Bayrou has succeeded in passing the budget, after making concessions to the left, but remains vulnerable to political pressure from both the left and right.