French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen was convicted on Monday, the 31st of March, of embezzling European Parliament (EP) funds and sentenced to an immediate five-year ban from holding any public office, barring her from standing in the 2027 presidential elections unless she successfully appeals the verdict before then, according to Reuters and Politico.
The ruling is a catastrophic setback for Le Pen, leader of the National Rally (RN) party, which has been leading in opinion polls in the fight for the 2027 presidential elections.
Le Pen, the RN and 24 party members were accused of diverting more than four million euros of EP funds to pay party staff who rarely, if ever, dealt with cases in Brussels or Strasbourg.
The defendants maintained their innocence during the four-month trial, but prosecutors presented compelling evidence against them, including messages from an assistant who, several months after being recruited, asked to meet the MEP for whom he was allegedly working.
JUDGE BENEDICTE DE PERTHUIS SAID THAT LE PEN WAS AT THE “HEART” OF THE SCHEME.
The defendants argued that the money had been used legitimately and that the charges defined too narrowly what the MEP’s assistant did.
“Today, it is not only Marina Le Pen who is being unjustly condemned: it is French democracy that is being executed,” said Jordan Bardella, President of the RN and Le Pen’s right-hand man.
Bardella and others on the far right in France and across Europe were quick to condemn the verdict. Some, such as Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, spoke out even before the Le Pen verdict was announced.
The Kremlin deplored the “violation of democratic norms” and Italy’s far-right Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini denounced the verdict as a “bad film” and a “declaration of war by Brussels”.
BEFORE THE VERDICT WAS DELIVERED, LE PEN LEFT THE COURTROOM, VISIBLY DISSATISFIED.
The judges also sentenced Le Pen to four years in prison – two of which are suspended – and a fine of 100 000 euro. She will certainly appeal against the verdict and neither of these penalties will be imposed pending the outcome of her appeal.
However, the five-year ban on her participation in the elections will take effect immediately, through the so-called “provisional enforcement” measure requested by the prosecutors. It will only be lifted if she wins her appeal before the elections. She will keep her seat in Parliament until the end of her term
All but one of the other 24 defendants were found guilty and received various fines, ineligibility bans and suspended prison sentences. Le Pen’s National Rally party was fined two million euros, which can be reduced if it does not repeat the crime.
Political analyst Arnaud Benedetti, who has written a book on the RN, said that Le Pen’s five-year ban was a turning point in French politics that would reverberate through all parties and the electorate.
“This is a seismic political event”, he said. “It will inevitably reshuffle the party family, especially on the right.”
Appeals in France can last months or even years.
BARDELLA NOW LOOKS SET TO BECOME THE PARTY’S DE FACTO CANDIDATE FOR THE 2027 ELECTIONS
Although he has helped to promote the RN among younger voters, experts say it is unclear whether he has the experience to convince the wider electorate that the RN needs to secure victory in 2027.
However, just before the verdict, Le Pen herself said on television that Bardella was “capable of becoming President of the Republic”.