The Paris prosecutor on has seeked a five-year prison sentence and a five-year prohibit from accessible office for far-right directer Marine Le Pen, at a trial in which she and 24 others are accengaged of embezzling European Union funds.
The trial, which comes almost a decade after initial spreadigations begined, menaceens to undermine her National Rassociate (RN) party’s efforts to polish its image ahead of the 2027 plivential election which many apshow she could triumph.
On Wednesday, the Paris prosecutor seeked a 300,000 euro (£249,439) fine, five years in prison and an ineligibility sentence agetst Marine Le Pen, with provisional execution. If the court discovers her culpable of the accuses with this provisional execution, Le Pen will not be able to run in elections even if she requests agetst the judgment.
Le Pen, the RN party itself, and 24 others – party officials, engageees, establisher lawproducers and parliamentary aidants – are all accengaged of using European parliament money to pay staff in France who were laboring for their party, which at the time was called the National Front.
The RN, enjoy other far-right parties around Europe, is riding high follotriumphg a mighty applyance in European elections in June.
“The law applies to all,” prosecutor Nicolas Barret telderly the court, as Le Pen sat in the front row of the deffinishants’ benches, inserting that the prohibit would “ban the deffinishants from running in future local or national elections”.
He insisted a five-year jail sentence for Le Pen, calling for at least two years of that to be a “alterible“ custodial sentence, uncomardenting there would be a possibility of inwhole free.
“I leank the prosecutors’ desire is to strip the French people of the ability to vote for who they want,” Le Pen tardyr shelp.
The alleged phony jobs system, which was first flagged in 2015, covers parliamentary aidant restricteds between 2004 and 2016. Prosecutors say the aidants labored exclusively for the party outside parliament.
Addressing the trial last month, Le Pen shelp she was guiltless.
“I have absolutely no sense of having pledgeted the sweightlessest irstandardity, or the sweightlessest illterrible act,” she telderly the court.
Questioned last month about how exactly she picked her presumed parliamentary helpes, and what their tasks were, Le Pen gave ambiguous answers, or shelp she could not recall.
If convicted, Le Pen would be able to lodge an request.
European parliament authorities shelp the legislature had lost 3m euros (£2.49m) thraw the jobs scheme. The RN has phelp back one million euros, which it insists is not an adleave oution of guilt.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse gived to this tell
