A French court on March 31 sentenced far-right leader Marine Le Pen to four years in prison, two of which were under arrest with an electronic bracelet and two suspended, and also banned her from participating in elections for five years, making it impossible for her to run in the 2027 presidential election.
Points of attention
- Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader in France, has been sentenced to four years in prison, with two years under house arrest and a ban from participating in elections for five years.
- The NF party (now known as NO) was fined EUR 2 million for the case involving fictitious employment of assistants to members of the European Parliament.
- Le Pen and her associates were found guilty of fictitious employment of assistants, with 20 individuals performing party tasks instead of the designated European Parliament work.
Le Pen will not be able to run for French president
Marine Le Pen was found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison: two of them are suspended, and she will serve another two at home with an electronic bracelet.
The politician must also pay a fine of 100,000 euros. In addition, she was banned from participating in elections for five years, which deprives her of the opportunity to run for president in 2027 if the sentence is not appealed.
Le Pen left the courtroom before the verdict was announced.
In addition, the NF party (now NO) was fined EUR 2 million, of which EUR 1 million was a fixed amount, as well as EUR 1 million confiscated during the investigation into the case of assistants to MEPs.
According to the publication, the NF case is related to the payment of salaries to NF employees (since 2018 — NO) for work in the party from European Parliament funds, which contradicts the EP statute, from 2004 to 2016.
The case of embezzlement of European Parliament funds has been under consideration since September 30, 2024. The court found Le Pen and her associates guilty of fictitious employment of assistants: according to the investigation, 20 people who were supposed to work in the European Parliament were actually performing party tasks.
This violates the rules under which assistants' salaries are financed from the European Parliament budget, not from political party funds.
