Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right National Rally party, is sentenced to four years in prison and banned from running in the 2027 presidential election. She is also fined Rs 92.9 lakh. This ruling came after a French court found Le Pen and eight others guilty of embezzling European Union funds.
The case accused Le Pen and 24 members of her party of using EU funds, which were meant for parliamentary aides, to pay for party staff salaries between 2004 and 2016. This violated EU rules. The decision will have a big impact on her party. With Le Pen disqualified, 29-year-old Jordan Bardella is expected to lead the National Rally in her place.
During her trial, which lasted nine weeks in late 2024, Le Pen denied the charges and argued that being disqualified would end her political career and hurt the millions of people who supported her. She said, “There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. So tomorrow, potentially, millions and millions of French people would see themselves deprived of their candidate in the election.”
Le Pen insisted that the funds were not misused for party operations and that using parliamentary aides for political work was okay. The court also found that some of the misused funds were used to pay for Le Pen’s personal assistant and bodyguard, who had previously worked for her father.
Le Pen and the others convicted can appeal the ruling, but that would lead to another trial. She has claimed the case was politically motivated and that authorities were trying to stop her from running for president.
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