French Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen Found Guilty of Embezzlement, Barred From Seeking Office
Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally party in France was found guilty of misappropriation of public funds and barred from running for office for five years "with immediate effect" by a Paris court on Monday, for using EU funds to pay for party salaries. Le Pen has also been sentenced to two years in prison and fined €100,000. Both the fine and the prison term are appealable.
24 other members of National Rally were also found guilty of embezzlement, including eight members of European Parliament. The total loss to the EU was found to be €2.9 million, with Le Pen personally being found guilty of embezzling €474,000 for the party.
The sentence casts deep uncertainty over Le Pen's political future. Le Pen will no longer be able to challenge Emmanuel Macron for the presidency when his term is up in 2027. With another French election looming and her party holding the most seats of any singular party in the National Assembly, Le Pen was seen as a strong contender for the highest office. She will also be unable to defend her seat in parliament in the next election. Le Pen accused prosecutors of seeking a "political death sentence."
"There was no personal enrichment…but there was the enrichment of a party," Judge Bénédicte de Perthuis said, claiming Le Pen's action violated party financing rules. "Let's be clear: no one is on trial for doing politics, that's not the issue. The issue was whether or not the contracts had been executed," the judge added. Le Pen left the court room without comment before the sentencing was finished.
https://meidasnews.com/news/french-far-right-leader-marine-le-pen-found-guilty-of-embezzlement-barred-from-seeking-office
Why couldn't we do this with Trump?