Marine Le Pen’s trial on charges of embezzlement in a French court

According to RCO News Agency, “Marine Le Pen”, the leader of the parliamentary wing of the far-right French party known as “National Community”, along with 26 other members and affiliates of her party, have been accused of embezzling the EU budget.

According to “Reuters”, 56-year-old Le Pen, who is accused in this case of being involved in appointing fake jobs with the aim of embezzling European Union funds, will witness her trial in the French court from today (Monday) and if convicted He may receive up to 10 years in prison.

Prosecutors at the Paris Criminal Court have accused Le Pen of being part of a conspiracy to appoint fake jobs in her party from 2004 to 2016, along with several other National Assembly members.

According to the investigations of the French judicial authorities, during this conspiracy, several low-ranking employees of the party, such as security guards, were introduced with higher-ranking job titles such as parliamentary assistant of the European Union, so that they could pay their salaries from the EU budget instead of the party’s bank account.

Le Pen, whose party achieved significant victories in the last parliamentary elections, faces the prospect of being imprisoned and banned from politics for 10 years and paying a fine of 1 million euros ($1.1 million).

The French National Community Party has described this judicial investigation, which has been going on for several years, as “harassment and harassment”. “Laurent Jacobelli”, the spokesperson of this party, told the Reuters News agency that Le Pen was not worried about this case because this case was based on a misunderstanding.

“Le Pen knows that the accusations against us are simply due to our different understanding as a French party of the role of an assistant compared to the understanding of the European Parliament,” he noted.

The investigation into Marine Le Pen, who is no longer a member of the European Parliament but is now a member of the French Parliament, has determined that many of those whom the National Assembly party named as “parliamentary assistants” did not provide a clear explanation of what their day-to-day duties were.

At one point, investigators discovered text messages from a bodyguard who, a few months after he started working as an assistant to a member of the European Parliament, requested to meet with the member.

The trial, if successful, could undo many of Le Pen’s efforts to improve her party’s image after decades of being on the sidelines of politics. Members of France’s National Assembly party are embroiled in another separate trial for allegedly spending illegal money on Marine Le Pen’s 2022 presidential campaign.

The far-right leader of France, as he entered his court today along with nearly 24 other defendants, denied any violation of the law on his part.

“We have not violated any political rules or regulations of the European Parliament,” Le Pen said upon entering the Paris court.

He promised that during the trial he will present “very serious and decisive arguments” in his defense.

The trial, which is expected to last nine weeks, is closely watched by Le Pen’s political rivals. He is one of the main contenders to succeed Emmanuel Macron in the French presidency during the next parliamentary elections in 2027.

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