French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been found guilty in a case involving the misuse of European Parliament funds, with the Court of Appeal confirming her conviction and imposing a sentence that could affect her plans to run for the French presidency.
According to the BBC, Marine Le Pen and her 10 co-defendants have all been found guilty of diverting European Parliament funds that were inteded for hiring parliamentary assistants. They are all condemned to pay damages to the European Parliament close to €2 million to reimburse the contracts they paid to assistants, along with €150,000 in moral damages to the EU, plus legal fees. In addition, the co-defendants have all also received individual fines, including €100,000 for Le Pen.
According to reports, the court handed Le Pen a three-year prison sentence, two years suspended and one to be served with an electronic tag.
The presiding judge, Bénédicte de Perthuis, described the case as involving “serious facts”, noting it spanned 11 years and three parliamentary terms.
The judge stated that European funds constitute public money and said the actions attributed to Le Pen and others damaged the image of European institutions, while creating unequal conditions compared with other political parties.
Implications for presidential ambitions
Despite the ruling, Le Pen could in theory still run for the French presidency, as the ban on holding public office is effectively limited to 15 months, with part of the sentence suspended.
However, she has indicated she would not run under such conditions, arguing that electronic monitoring would hinder her ability to conduct a normal election campaign, as she would require permission for each campaign event.
The leader of the National Rally is expected to comment publicly on the ruling in a televised interview scheduled for later in the evening.
Source: BBC
