Le Pen on trial for embezzling EU funds

The accusation is the fictitious employment of parliamentary staff and the embezzlement of EU funds: As of today, Marine Le Pen and other French right-wing nationalists are on trial. There is a lot at stake for Le Pen.

Marine Le Pen and other politicians must appear before a Paris criminal court from today. The 28 defendants are accused of embezzling public funds. In addition to the long-time party leader Marine Le Pen, her father and party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen is also among the accused.

The allegations relate to the years 2004 to 2016 and are directed against the Rassemblement National party (formerly Front National), then MPs and assistants. This concerns the possible fictitious employment of assistants to several French MEPs. The central accusation is that Le Pen’s party received money from the European Parliament for parliamentary assistants who actually worked for the party.

Danger for Le Pens presidential candidacy

The total is said to be around seven million euros. A year ago, Marine Le Pen had already transferred 330,000 euros that the European Parliament had demanded back. However, your party always emphasizes that this is not an admission of wrongdoing. Le Pen himself has always denied the allegations.

The affair has burdened Le Pen and her party for years. If found guilty, the defendants face hefty fines and prison sentences of up to ten years. If convicted, the defendants could also be declared ineligible for five years, which could thwart Marine Le Pen’s candidacy in the 2027 presidential election.

Rassemblement National wants to get into the middle class

The legal processing of the allegations comes at a time in which the Rassemblement National is stronger than ever. The right-wing nationalists, who were already considered potential winners in the early parliamentary elections in June, only ended up in third place. However, since the party is strongly represented in parliament, it can exert great influence on the newly formed center-right government of conservative Prime Minister Michel Barnier.

The fact that Le Pen and other party leaders now have to take a seat in the dock counteracts the party’s efforts to normalize. Le Pen not only gave the party a new name, but also distanced himself from overly radical positions in order to make the formerly clearly right-wing extremist party electable right up to the middle class.

The trial is scheduled until the end of November. The party is preparing for a long legal battle, as the French newspaper “Le Monde” reported.