French prosecutors have called for Marine Le Pen to serve five years in prison and face an immediate five-year ban from public office over alleged EU funds embezzlement.
The demands were made yesterday at a Paris court where Le Pen and 24 other defendants face charges of misusing European Parliament money.
Prosecutors requested a €300,000 fine and specified that the ban from public office should take immediate effect, even if Le Pen appeals the verdict.
The proposed sentence could prevent the National Rally leader from running in France's 2027 presidential election.
Marine Le Pen and 24 other defendants face charges of misusing European Parliament money
REUTERSThe case centres on allegations that Le Pen and her party set up fake jobs in the European Parliament over at least a decade, diverting €6.8million of EU funds.
Prosecutors say the defendants used a "sophisticated billing system" to channel European Parliament money to pay for party staff in France between 2004 and 2016.
The scheme primarily involved parliamentary assistant positions, with prosecutors alleging these assistants worked exclusively for the party rather than the EU Parliament.
The European Parliament, which initially flagged the irregularities in 2015, estimates it lost €3m through the jobs scheme.
The National Rally has already repaid €1m, though the party insists this is not an admission of guilt.
Le Pen strongly denounced the prosecutors' demands, calling them "extremely outrageous" when speaking to reporters after the hearing.
"I think the prosecutors' wish is to deprive the French people of the ability to vote for whom they want," she said.
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Le Pen strongly denounced the prosecutors' demands, calling them "extremely outrageous"
GettyThe hard-right leader maintains her innocence, having told the court last month: "I have absolutely no sense of having committed the slightest irregularity, or the slightest illegal act."
Jordan Bardella, chairman of the National Rally, called the prosecution's demands an "assault on democracy" in a social media post.
Chief prosecutor Louise Neyton urged the court to consider the "unprecedented" scale and duration of the alleged fraud.
"The facts are unprecedented because of their scope, duration and because of their organised, automatic and systemic nature," she told the court.
Prosecutor Nicolas Barret emphasised that "the law applies to all" as Le Pen sat in the front row of defendants.
The prosecution argued that the defendants had made "the European Parliament their cash cow" and would have continued if authorities hadn't intervened.
If found guilty, she would be unable to stand for President in 2027
ReutersPatrick Maisonneuve, lawyer for the European Parliament, said the fraud appeared "largely established" based on evidence presented during the trial.
Le Pen has finished as runner-up to Emmanuel Macron in both the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections.
Her National Rally party has seen growing electoral support in recent years, and is currently the largest opposition party in France's National Assembly.
The nine-week trial is scheduled to conclude on November 27, with a verdict expected in early 2025.
If convicted with the provisional execution requested by prosecutors, Le Pen would be barred from running in the 2027 presidential election even if she appeals the judgment.
The defence team will present their arguments for acquittal in the coming weeks.
