{"id":564046,"date":"2026-02-03T20:22:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T20:22:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/564046\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T20:22:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T20:22:09","slug":"french-prosecutors-request-5-year-ban-on-marine-le-pen-from-holding-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/564046\/","title":{"rendered":"French prosecutors request 5-year ban on Marine Le Pen from holding office"},"content":{"rendered":"

PARIS (AP) \u2014 French prosecutors Tuesday requested a five-year ban on holding elected office against far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a crucial appeal trial in Paris<\/a>, an outcome that may prevent her from running<\/a> in the 2027 presidential election.<\/p>\n

Le Pen, 57, is seeking to overturn a March 2025 ruling that found her guilty<\/a> of misusing European Parliament funds in the hiring of aides from 2004 to 2016. Prosecutors accused Le Pen of being at the head of a \u201csystem\u201d meant to \u201csiphon off\u201d EU public funds to the benefit of her party.<\/p>\n

In addition, they requested one year of house arrest with an electronic bracelet and a 100,000 euro fine ($118,000) against Le Pen. <\/p>\n

The appeals court\u2019s verdict is expected at a later date, possibly before summer. <\/p>\n

During the trial that started last month, Le Pen acknowledged some people performed work for her party, then known as the National Front, while being paid as EU parliamentary aides, calling it \u201ca mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the prosecutors, Thierry Ramonatxo, said Tuesday the alleged misappropriation of public funds represents \u201ca very serious breach of probity\u201d that gave the party \u201ca concrete advantage in the form of substantial savings made at the expense of the European Parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSome parliamentary assistants worked for the party but were paid by the European Parliament \u2014 that is the plain reality,\u201d Ramonatxo said. <\/p>\n

St\u00e9phane Madoz-Blanchet, another prosecutor, denounced \u201ca system\u201d led by Le Pen. \u201cThe acts of misappropriation of public funds were deliberately and carefully concealed,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Madoz-Blanchet pointed to \u201cpublic money siphoned off drop by drop until it formed a river.\u201d<\/p>\n

Le Pen listened in silence, occasionally shaking her head no at some of the allegations. <\/p>\n

The appeal trial, involving Le Pen, 10 other defendants and the National Rally party as a legal entity, is scheduled to last until next week.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors noted the \u201cseriousness of the facts\u201d and asked the appeals court, composed of a panel of three judges, to find party officials guilty, with a ban on elected office.<\/p>\n

Speaking to journalists in the courtroom earlier Tuesday, Le Pen said: \u201cI never expect a pleasant surprise when I set foot in a courtroom.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not the one who decides. I don\u2019t hold the cards,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Le Pen was seen as the potential front-runner to succeed President Emmanuel Macron<\/a> in the 2027 election until last year\u2019s ruling, which sent shock waves<\/a> through French politics.<\/p>\n

Several scenarios are possible, from acquittal to another conviction that may bar her rom running in 2027. She also could face an even tougher punishment if convicted anew \u2014 up to 10 years in prison and a fine of 1 million euros ($1.17 million).<\/p>\n

If she becomes ineligible, she has designated her 30-year-old prot\u00e9g\u00e9, Jordan Bardella, as her successor in the presidential bid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PARIS (AP) \u2014 French prosecutors Tuesday requested a five-year ban on holding elected office against far-right leader Marine…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":564047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7373,356,90,8703,440,63035,8697,156,40783,57,103195,606,2851,50,3715,80,235115,246069,246070,8007,103,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-564046","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-2026-elections","9":"tag-courts","10":"tag-elections","11":"tag-emmanuel-macron","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-european-parliament","14":"tag-european-union","15":"tag-france","16":"tag-france-government","17":"tag-general-news","18":"tag-jordan-bardella","19":"tag-labor","20":"tag-marine-le-pen","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-paris","23":"tag-politics","24":"tag-send-to-apple-news","25":"tag-stphane-madoz-blanchet","26":"tag-thierry-ramonatxo","27":"tag-trials","28":"tag-world","29":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116008566392020227","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/564047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}