2023-09-22 18:10:41
Marine Le Pen is due to stand trial for alleged embezzlement of European funds. This is what the responsible public prosecutor’s office in Paris demanded on Friday. If the investigating judges open a trial, a total of 27 people could face prison sentences of up to ten years and fines of up to one million euros.
In the newspaper “Le Monde”, the Rassemblement National (RN) politician criticized a “mistaken vision of the opposition work by the public prosecutor’s office”. She will refute the charges. The criminal trial was “no surprise.” Le Pen referred to the Modem Party, which is part of the presidential faction, and the Left Party, which is also being investigated.
The suspects also include Le Pen’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen, the RN mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot, and the former party deputy Bruno Gollnisch. A total of 27 people would be in the dock, including eleven former EU representatives from the right-wing extremist party. The Paris public prosecutor’s office has been investigating the affair since the end of 2015.
Chances of moving into the Elysée Palace
Le Pen is accused of misusing European funds for national purposes in favor of her party during her time as an MEP from 2004 to 2017. Members of the EU Parliament from their party are said to have paid employees to act as parliamentary assistants, even though they were actually taking on party tasks.
The European anti-fraud agency OLAF has already ordered Le Pen to pay back 330,000 euros in EU funds that she illegally used for two employees – including her bodyguard – in Paris. According to information from the Internet portal Mediapart, Le Pen has now paid back the 330,000 euros to the EU Parliament. However, the European anti-fraud authority cannot impose criminal sanctions. That’s why she referred the case to the French judiciary.
Michaela Wiegel, Paris Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 8 Jürg Altwegg, Geneva Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 13 Gerald Braunberger Published/Updated: , Recommendations: 10
In the past, legal proceedings have not harmed Le Pen politically. She has always declared her innocence and spoken of political trials. The 55-year-old faction leader of the Rassemblement National recently said she was her party’s “natural candidate” for the 2027 presidential election. In a recent Elabe poll, 61 percent of respondents said Le Pen could win the elections in just under four years move into the Elysée Palace.
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