The magistrates of the Paris Court declared that she and eight managers of the former national conference are guilty. The reading of the sentence will last two hours and began at 10 am the time of the French capital.
Ultra -right leader Marine Le Pen was convicted by a French court after being guilty of embezzlement EU funds. The president of the Court considered proven the diversion of funds between 2004 and 2016 and described as “fictitious” the contracts of twelve of the parliamentary assistants.
The judge also dictated guilt verdicts to eight other current or previous members of his party that, like her, previously served as elected legislators in the European Parliament. Le Pen and his coacked face up to 10 years in prison. They can appeal, which would lead to another trial.
The Paris Correctional Court has disabled Le Pen for five years for public office, as requested by the Prosecutor’s Office, which will prevent the national group leader from presenting himself as a candidate in future political elections. The disqualification of the ultra -rightist leader could prevent him from applying for the presidency of France in 2027. She has described that scenario as a “political death.”
The amount of the funds that Marine Pen diverted
In total, the president diverted 2.9 million eurosof those who 474,000 euros are attributable to Le Penwho passed as parliamentary assistants to his bodyguard, Thierry Légier, and his personal secretary, Catherine Griset. The sentence considers that the system launched by the party “did not lead to a personal enrichment” of the MEPs, but “a life comfort of the party leaders and an enrichment of it ”.
The support of the Russian government to Le Pen
In reaction to the disqualification of Le Pen, the Kremlin said today: “More and more European capitals violate democratic norms. More and more European capitals follow the path of trampling democratic norms”Said the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov, at his daily telephone press conference when answering a question about the case.
Source: Ambito
