SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
French prosecutors demand Marine Le Pen be barred from office in fake jobs trial
Paris, Nov 13 (AFP) Nov 13, 2024
French prosecutors demanded Wednesday that far-right leader Marine Le Pen receive a jail sentence and be banned from public office for five years over charges she embezzled European Parliament funds.

The prosecution made the request in a Paris court where Le Pen and other defendants from her National Rally party are on trial accused of creating fake jobs at the EU parliament. She denies the charges.

If granted by the court, the ban would exclude the 56-year-old from running in France's 2027 presidential election.

The prosecution demanded the ban be effective immediately, even if the defence team appeals.

The National Rally, like other far-right parties around Europe, is riding high following a strong performance in European elections in June.

The prosecution demanded that all of the two dozen defendants be excluded from running from public office.

It demanded a five-year jail sentence for Le Pen, calling for at least two years of that to be a "convertible" custodial sentence, meaning there would be a possibility of partial release.

The prosecutors also demanded the RN be fined two million euros ($2.1 million).

Le Pen promptly denounced the prosecutors' motion as excessive, branding it an "outrage" and accusing prosecutors of trying to "ruin the (RN) party".

"I think the prosecutors' wish is to deprive the French people of the ability to vote for who they want," she said.

The alleged fake jobs system, which was first flagged in 2015, covers parliamentary assistant contracts between 2004 and 2016.

Prosecutors say the assistants worked exclusively for the party outside parliament.

Addressing the trial last month, Le Pen said she was innocent.

"I have absolutely no sense of having committed the slightest irregularity, or the slightest illegal act," she told the court.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Perseverance rover cleared for long distance Mars exploration
Possible "superkilonova" exploded not once but twice
Origami style lunar rover wheel expands to climb steep caves

24/7 Energy News Coverage
The Quantum Age will be Powered by Fusion
Physicists map axion production paths inside deuterium tritium fusion reactors
Hybrid excitons speed ultrafast energy transfer at 2D organic interface

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
SDA expands Tracking Layer satellite awards and related missile defense contracts
Space Systems Command activates System Delta 80 for assured space access
Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions to provide SAR reconnaissance data to German military

24/7 News Coverage
Philosopher argues AI consciousness may remain unknowable
Climate driven model explores Neanderthal and modern human overlap in Iberia
Economic losses from natural disasters down by a third in 2025: Swiss Re



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.