The far-right leader is accused of using money from the European Parliament to finance her own party. She faces a prison sentence of ten years, a fine of one million euros and ten years of disqualification, which would frustrate her ambition to become president.
The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen will be sitting on the dock this Monday for one alleged diversion of 6.8 million of euros from the European Parliament to fund your political partya trial that jeopardizes his chances of participating in the Elysée in 2027 for the fourth time.
The trial starts today at 1:30 PM and will last seven weeks.
The current head of the far-right parliamentarians in the National Assembly is accused, along with others 26 peoplethat between 2004 and 2016 he used European Parliament money to pay staff working for the party posing as parliamentary assistants in Brussels. Among the suspects are one of his advisers, his sister, his ex-partner and current mayor of Perpignan, Louis Aliot, and his father, the founder of the National Front, Jean Marie Le Pen, who will not attend the trial due to his health attend (he is 96 years old).
A crime for which you can be convicted 10 years in prisona fine of one million euros and 10 years disqualificationwhich would put on hold her ambition to become France’s first female president.
Le Pen denies the accusations and she says she is “persecuted by justice”, which she accuses of trying to stop her “assault on power”. His party, the National Group, won 143 seats in the last parliamentary elections (the highest representation to date), although it finished in third place.
Her entourage has assured that Le Pen will regularly attend court and will not hide behind her lawyers, despite the fact that the trial coincides with a fraught political situation, with the first steps of the new government led by Michel Barnier whose survival depends on the protection of the extreme right.
10 years of research
The investigation began in 2014, when the National Front won the French European Championships and seated 24 parliamentarians in Brussels and Strasbourg. The 24 representatives each had 23,000 euros per month at their disposal to hire parliamentary assistants.
According to the nearly 2,500 pieces of evidence collected, that was money intended to compensate party workers and allowed him overcome the difficult financial situation which even forced him to sell his historic headquarters on the outskirts of Paris.
According to the Public Prosecution Service, this conspiracy was headed by the father of the current far-right leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen – he was a European deputy for more than thirty years – although his daughter Marine continued the system.
According to the indictment, Le Pen herself used the money to pay the salaries of her chief of staff and her personal bodyguard, and it is believed that many other alleged parliamentary aides they hardly set foot in the European Parliament.
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
