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Marine Le Pen was found guilty of eclipse of millions of euros from the European Parliament – a verdict that could hinder her to succeed Emmanuel Macron in the next presidential election.
The leader of the right -wing National Rally (RN), a forerunner in the polls for the presidency in 2027, was among a number of party officials accused of deriating more than € 3 million (£ 2.5m) from the European Parliament Funds to pay staff in France.
Prosecutors have asked Le Pen to face an immediate five -year ban from public office if convicted, regardless of any appeal process, using a so -called ‘preliminary performances’. We were still waiting to hear if this was the case, while the judges were still reading the verdict.
The prosecution claimed that Le Pen’s party, the national rally, considered the European Parliament a ‘cash cow’. She was accused as a former member of the European Parliament and the National Time Party leader in the period in question between 2004 and 2016.
Le Pen and her two dozen co-accused insisted that the European Union funds be legally used that the allegations against them defined the role of a parliamentary assistant.
But Judge Benedicte de Perthuis ruled on Monday: ‘It has been determined that all these people actually work for the party, that they [EU] Legislature gave them no tasks. “
“The investigations also showed that these were not administrative errors … but eclipse within the framework of a system set to lower the cost of the party.”
Prosecutors recommended that she hand over a five -year sentence, three of which would be suspended, a € 300,000 fine and a five -year ban on the management of public offices.
Le Pen accused prosecutors of seeking her “political death”, claiming a plot to withhold the RN of the power that reflects the demands of US President Donald Trump about his own legal problems.
In an interview with La Tribune on SundayLe Pen, published on Saturday before the verdict, said: “With preliminary execution, the judges have the power of life or death over our movement.”
Le Pen has worked for more than a decade to make her party more mainstream and tries to fade his extremist lead to broaden his attraction for voters.
She led the national rally from 2011 to 2021. She changed his name of the national front, as part of her efforts to distance it from the period when her father, Jean-Marie, ran it and had a fierce stigma of racism and anti-Semitism.
She has now already positioned a legislature in the National Assembly, the French Parliament’s mighty Lower House, as a candidate for Mr. To follow up Macron, who can’t run for the presidency again, with twice the runner -up for him.
In 2022, Mr. Macron won by 58.5 percent of the votes of the 41.5 percent of Le Pen – significantly closer than when they first faced in 2017 and the best score ever from the French far in a presidential bid.
Disability “would deprive me of being a presidential candidate,” she pleaded during the hearing. ‘Behind, there are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. Tomorrow, millions and millions of French people would see themselves being deprived of their candidate in the election. ‘
Le Pen’s natural successor is Jordan Bardella, 29, who took over the party of the party when Le Pen returned from the role in 2021. He would probably be her prime minister if she were to become president.
Yet observers say there is no guarantee that he can convince as many voters as she can. In recent months, some in the party have criticized his management as focusing on his personal career.
Since joining the party at the age of 17, Bardella has risen rapidly through the ranks, who served as spokesman and president of his youth wing before being appointed Vice President and became the second youngest member of the European Parliament in history.
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