Court to decide today if Marine Le Pen can run in next year's French presidential election
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen will appear in court on Tuesday to challenge an embezzlement charge. The outcome of this trial will determine whether she can take part in next year's presidential election, where she was considered one of the most likely contenders for victory, writes the BBC.
Marine Le Pen. Photo: AP Photo/Thibault Camus
In March, a French court banned Le Pen from holding public office for five years after she and eight other former members of the "National Rally" were found guilty of misappropriating more than four million euros from EU funds.
According to the court's decision, from 2004 to 2016, Le Pen and her associates used funds allocated for work in the European Parliament to pay staff who actually worked for the party.
Le Pen stated that the way the money was used was legal. "My only line of defense in the appeal process will be the same as in the first one: to tell the truth," Le Pen told reporters on Monday.
"The case will be reconsidered, and new judges will preside over it," she added. "I hope to convince them of my innocence."
Le Pen, who has participated in presidential elections three times, was also sentenced to four years in prison, two of which are suspended, as well as a fine of 100,000 euros. Unlike the ban decision, these penalties have not yet come into force, as she has filed an appeal.
The politician has always maintained her innocence and is appealing the verdict in hopes of gaining the opportunity to run for president a fourth time. An appeal was filed alongside Le Pen by 12 defendants in the case, including the deputy leader of the "National Rally" Louis Aliot, as well as the party itself.
Another 12 people, including one of Le Pen's sisters, decided not to appeal the verdict, and one of the convicted has since died.
The hearings begin on Tuesday and are scheduled to conclude on February 12.
Marine Le Pen's lawyers — Rodolphe Bosselut and Sandra Chirac Kellaric — declined to comment before the start of the hearings.
European Parliament lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve expressed hope that the conviction of Le Pen and her accomplices would be upheld, including the payment of over 3 million euros in compensation to the European Parliament. The "National Rally" must also pay a fine of 2 million euros, half of which was conditionally suspended.
A decision on the case is expected by summer, meaning that if the five-year ban on participating in elections is lifted or significantly reduced, Le Pen will still have a chance to participate in the 2027 elections.
If the court upholds its original decision, Le Pen will be banned from participating in the 2027 elections, which many consider her best, and perhaps last, chance to become president of France.
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