Le Pen found guilty of embezzlement, will be unable to run in elections

Marine Le Pen, a prominent far-right politician from France's National Rally (RN) party and President Macron's biggest rival, has been found guilty of embezzlement in a case brought against her. Le Pen will be unable to run in the 2027 elections.

In court, Le Pen, 8 people who were EU parliamentarians at the time, and 12 parliamentary assistants were found guilty of embezzling European Union (EU) funds. It was stated that the defendants were accused of using EU funds not for themselves, but for the benefit of their party.

Le Pen, who was sentenced to a 4-year prison term with 2 years suspended and a 100 thousand euro fine, will be unable to run in the 2027 presidential elections due to the court's decision to impose a 5-year ban from political office.

Judge Benedicte de Perthuis stated that Le Pen was at the center of the system established by the party to use EU funds to pay employees.

Perthuis said, "Marine Le Pen, who has been at the center of this system since 2009, has been firmly involved in this system established by her father since 2004." Perthuis stated that the investigations conducted showed that the crimes were not administrative errors, and revealed that the party embezzled money within the framework of a system implemented to reduce costs.

Prosecutors had requested that if Le Pen were found guilty, she be immediately banned from public office for 5 years, regardless of any appeal process. Le Pen, who was President Emmanuel Macron's biggest rival in the previous elections, had accused the prosecutors of seeking her 'political death'.

News Source: 12punto