Marine Le Pen's future to be decided as embezzlement verdict arrives

[BeyondGeography]

The future of the far-right leader Marine Le Pen – and France’s political landscape – will be decided on Monday when a court hands down its verdict on charges she and party officials embezzled money from the European parliament.

If convicted, the three-time presidential candidate of the National Rally (RN) could be barred from standing to succeed Emmanuel Macron in the 2027 presidential election.

Public prosecutors have demanded Le Pen be given a €300,000 (£250,000) fine, a prison sentence and that she be prevented from holding or seeking to hold a political position or five years. On Friday, in a case that did not involve Le Pen, France’s constitutional council delivered a blow to the RN figurehead when it ruled that politicians can be barred from office immediately if convicted of a crime.

…Le Pen and 24 others from RN, including party officials, employees, MEPs and assistants, were tried last November on charges of taking money from the European parliament as part of an alleged fake jobs scam. Instead of the money being spent on EU staff, they were accused of having used it to pay party staff in France. The European parliament estimated the allegedly embezzled funds amounted to about €7m. Le Pen and the others have denied the charges.

More at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/30/marine-le-pen-alleged-embezzlement-verdict?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[GreenWave]

1. Some shithole countries dick around with the law, but not in this case.