It’s time for the requisitions at the trial of the RN parliamentary assistants this Wednesday, November 13. Judged in this case, Marine Le Pen faces a prison sentence, a heavy fine and above all a penalty of ineligibility.
Marine Le Pen who has the 2027 presidential election in his sights had to turn his gaze towards another decisive meeting: the trial of the National Front (FN) assistants in the European Parliament. The affair could destroy her hopes and chances of winning the election and even participating in it… In this affair concerning suspicions of fictitious jobs in the European Parliament, the member of the National Rally (RN) is on trial for embezzlement and concealment of public funds alongside 24 other party members for total damage estimated at nearly 7 million euros. After seven weeks of hearings, it is time for requisitions. Marine Le Pen will learn of the sentences requested against her by prosecutors this Wednesday, November 13 at the end of the day.
If during the first hearings Marine Le Pen appeared confident, declaring that she would be able to prove her innocence, over the course of the trial the figurehead of the far-right party became disillusioned after hearings that were sometimes very difficult. Far from the apparent serenity at the start of the trial, politics now seems convinced that it will soon be condemned. “We are subject to a presumption of guilt,” she said during a hearing, believing that the “opinion” of the judges “was already made and that the defense arguments were somewhat evacuated as if they were not represented nothing, that they were almost a nuisance”.
But a conviction could be costly for Marine le Pen: the MP faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of one million euros, but above all she risks losing her civil rights and therefore becoming ineligible for a election whatever it may be.
Marine Le Pen ineligible in 2027?
If convicted, Marine Le Pen faces up to ten years in prison and a fine of one million euros, all accompanied by a penalty of ineligibility of up to five years in accordance with article 432-17 of the Penal Code. But since the figure of the party with the flame exercised a public elective mandate at the time of the events, the penalty of ineligibility can go up to ten years as provided for article 131-26-1 of the Penal Code. An ineligibility sentence of more than three years would prevent Marine Le Pen from running in the 2027 presidential election.
If a sentence of ineligibility is pronounced, the question will be whether it can be suspended or not if Marine Le Pen appeals the court decision. Ineligibility with provisional execution would be applied even in the event of an appeal, while a sentence without provisional execution would offer a reprieve to Marine Le Pen who would retain her civil rights until the appeal decision is rendered, or even a decision in cassation.
Marine Le Pen’s involvement must be proven
Marine Le Pen, who chaired the RN called National Front until 2018, from 2011 to 2021, is implicated, because she is suspected of having participated in the establishment of a fraudulent system of fictitious jobs concerning parliamentary assistants of MEPs from his party. The facts judged took place between 2004 and 2016, therefore partly under the presidency of the member for Hénin-Beaumont. Investigation elements and testimonies indicate that Marine Le Pen was aware of the system and oversaw it, this is the case of the declarations of former MEPs Aymeric Chauprade, who has since withdrawn, and Sophie Montel or even of the former parliamentary assistant to elected RN officials, Nicolas Franchinard, contacted by Médiapart.
Exchanges of emails, including Marine Le Pen’s office, on instructions concerning the use of funding allocated by the European Parliament to each elected official, consulted by Médiapart, show that the instructions given to MEPs – namely recruiting a single assistant to work on parliamentary projects and recruiting others to work on tasks beneficial to the party – came from the management, and therefore probably from Marine Le Pen . But the personal and direct involvement of Marine Le Pen must be proven. François Bayrou, the president of MoDem, tried in a similar case in February 2024, was acquitted “with the benefit of the doubt” due to insufficient evidence attesting to his involvement.
Marine Le Pen has always contested any fraudulent system of fictitious employment. During hearings as part of the investigation, she said: “It was not me who made the decisions and imposed this on deputies and employees.” As for other documents such as tables demonstrating the centralized management of parliamentary funding by the treasurer of the FN, she absolved herself of all responsibilities without denying being aware of this operation: “I would not say that I supervised this management rather that I was informed of it.
The fact remains that Marine Le Pen is not specifically involved in the aforementioned email exchanges since all the exchanges went through her office according to the testimony of Nicolas Franchinard. “She is aware of everything but appears nowhere,” he summarized to Médiapart.