Le Monde (“French far-right leader Marine Le Pen barred from running for public office after conviction in fake EU assistant jobs trial“):
A Paris court on Monday, March 31, sentenced far-right leader Marine Le Pen to a five-year ban on running for office with immediate effect, throwing into doubt her bid to stand for president in 2027. She was also given a four-year prison term but will not go to jail, with two years of the term suspended and the other two to be served outside jail with an electronic bracelet, the court ruled.
Including Le Pen, nine current or former MEPs from the RN were convicted. Twelve assistants were also convicted of concealing a crime, with the court estimating the scheme was worth €2.9 million. All the RN officials including Le Pen were banned from running for office, with the judge specifying that the sanction should come into force with immediate effect even if an appeal is lodged.
The three-time presidential candidate was accused of having hired four fictitious assistants when she was a member of the European Parliament (2004-2017). In reality, they were working for her party, the Front National (FN, now Rassemblement National, RN). The assistants, who were paid by the European Parliament, carried out tasks linked to the management of the party rather than work related to European parliamentary activity, as is normally required of such positions.
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The Kremlin on Monday was the first to react to Le Pen’s conviction, saying more and more “European capitals are going down the path of violating democratic norms,” according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov who was speaking to reporters in a briefing.
“Je suis Marine!” wrote Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, one of her main allies in the EU, on X in support, in French.
RN party leader Jordan Bardella, just 29, said French democracy was being “executed” with the “unjust” verdict.
Reuters (“Marine Le Pen Verdict Live: French far-right leader banned from public office“) adds:
The “provisional execution” ban will not see Le Pen removed from her seat in parliament until her mandate ends, though it will prevent her from running in any fresh electoral contest.
The five-year provisional execution ban will block her 2027 run.
Typically in most cases in France, sentences are not applied until any appeals process has run its course. However, if judges apply a provisional execution – as they have now done – the sentence begins immediately.
National Rally party (RN) leaders had said they did not expect Marine Le Pen to be barred but that if she were, then 29-year-old party president Jordan Bardella would be their 2027 candidate.
The verdict delivers a massive blow to Le Pen, a three-time presidential contender who has previously said the 2027 vote would be her final tilt at top office.
Le Pen’s best hope of running will rest on the sentence being overturned on appeal before the 2027 election.
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‘An attack on democracy’ – Europe’s right-wing
Geert Wilders, Dutch far-right leader:
“I am shocked by the incredible tough verdict against (Marine Le Pen). I support and believe in her 100% and I trust she will win the appeal and become President of France.”
George Simon, hard-right Romanian presidential candidate:
“Targeting or annihilating your political opponent by any means is straight out of the instruction manual of totalitarian regimes. This happened today in (France).”
Tom Van Grieken, leader of Belgium’s far-right Flemish separatist party Vlaams Belang:
“When nationalist politicians gain popularity, the system seeks other non-democratic ways to silence them. What is happening in France today is an attack on democracy. (Marine Le Pen) can continue to count on our support!”
Santiago Abascal, President of Spain’s far-right Vox party:
“They will not succeed in silencing the voice of the French people.”
AP (“French far-right leader Marine Le Pen is barred from seeking public office for embezzlement“) adds:
The court ruling was a political as well as a judicial temblor for France, hobbling one of the leading contenders to succeed President Emmanuel Macron at the end of his second and final term, scheduled to last into 2027. So broad were the political implications that even some of Le Pen’s political opponents reacted by saying that court had gone too far.
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Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán quickly took to social media to express his support, posting “Je suis Marine!” — I am Marine — on X.
Among political opponents of Le Pen who expressed unease was conservative lawmaker Laurent Wauquiez, who said the court ruling put “a very heavy weight on our democracy.”
The sentence could prevent her from running for president in 2027, a scenario she has previously described as a “political death.”
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The judge said Le Pen had been at the heart of “a system” that her party used to siphon off EU parliament money. The judge said Le Pen and other co-defendants didn’t enrich themselves personally. But the ruling described the embezzlement as “a democratic bypass” that deceived the parliament and voters.
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Le Pen, 56, was runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her party’s electoral support has grown in recent years.
During the nine-week trial that took place in late 2024, she argued that ineligibility “would have the effect of depriving me of being a presidential candidate” and disenfranchise her supporters.
“There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. So tomorrow, potentially, millions and millions of French people would see themselves deprived of their candidate in the election,” she told the panel of three judges.
The notion that the rule of law might trump the right of the voters to elect a criminal is an interesting one, indeed.
