The head of France’s nationally oriented party “Rassemblement Nationale”(RN) Marine Le Pen and eight other MEPs have been found guilty in a case of embezzlement of funds of this legislative body, French media reported on Monday.
According to Le Monde, the court sentenced the politician to four years in prison, the first two of which provide for the actual serving of the sentence, and the second half of the term Le Pen will be obliged to wear an electronic bracelet. In addition, one of Macron’s main rivals is deprived of the right to be elected for a period of 5 years.
The prosecution insists that the nationally orientated created a “scheme to embezzle” €20,000 per month allocated by the EU to each MP to pay assistants. A total of 27 people are on trial and are suspected of fictitiously hiring assistants between 2004 and 2016.
The assistants allegedly actually worked for the National Front party (as the RN was called until 2018). Among the assistants of Le Pen (MEP from 2004-2017) were also an employee of the FN headquarters in the Paris suburbs and a bodyguard for the politician’s father Jean-Marie Le Pen.
“This is a misappropriation of funds put into the system to reduce the party’s burden,” the court considered. In total, almost €3m was stolen over 11 years.
Marine Le Pen has denied involvement in the corruption scheme and accused prosecutors of seeking her “political death” by demanding immediate execution. Her allies also believe the judiciary is “conducting a witch hunt” to weaken the RN’s influence and popularity.
“Pfizer” case on von der Leyen has been hushed up
In January, the media reported that the court in the Belgian city of Liege would not investigate the case against the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
The lawsuit was filed back in 2023 by Belgian businessman Frederic Baldan, who believes that der Leyen is guilty of corruption. During the coronavirus pandemic, she, contrary to European norms, made a deal with the management of Pfizer to buy 1.8 billion vaccines worth $35 billion.
On April 1, 2024, the criminal investigation by top European prosecutors into European Commission (EC) chief Ursula von der Leyen’s procurement of coronavirus vaccines from Pfizer was reported to have been taken over by EU prosecutors.
According to legal documents, law enforcement agencies were checking the facts of “interference in public functions, deletion of SMS messages, corruption and conflict of interest.” However, von der Leyen is on excellent relations with Macron, so her case has been forgotten.
Meanwhile, Italian Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini wrote on X:
“Those who fear the judgement of the voters often seek reassurance from the courts. In Paris, they have condemned Marine Le Pen and would like to exclude her from political life. A bad film that can also be seen in other countries such as Romania. What is happening against @MLP_officiel is a declaration of war by Brussels, at a time when the bellicose impulses of Von der Leyen and Macron are terrifying. We will not be intimidated, we will not stop: full steam ahead, my friend!”
Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis also noted:
“This is nuts. Lawfare is wrong whomever it targets. And it is stupid to boot. France’s neofascists will only benefit from this, just as the MAGA lot did. A panicking illiberal establishment across the West is diving headlong into a totalitarian pit.”
