PARIS: French prosecutors in the embezzlement trial of France’s far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Wednesday demanded she get a jail sentence and a ban from public office if convicted, potentially barring her from running for president in 2027.
The prosecution made the request in a Paris court where Le Pen, 56, and other defendants from her National Rally party are on trial accused of creating fake jobs at the EU parliament. They deny the charges.
If granted by the court, the ban would exclude her from running in France’s 2027 presidential election, in what would be her fourth attempt to become head of state.
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 all two dozen defendants be banned from public office for five years, effective immediately after the verdict, even if the defense team appeals.
“The law applies to all,” prosecutor Nicolas Barret told the court, as Le Pen sat in the front row of the defendants’ benches.
He added that the ban would “prohibit the defendants from running in future local or national elections.”
He 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 prosecution also demanded the RN be fined two million euros ($2.1 million) and Le Pen herself 300,000 euros.
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.
The RN’s chairman Jordan Bardella called the prosecutors’ demands on Wednesday an “assault on democracy.”
“The prosecution is not acting justly,” he wrote on X. “It is seeking to persecute and take revenge on Marine Le Pen.”
Prosecutor Louise Neyton told the court earlier in Wednesday’s hearing her team was “not here to persecute” but as the result of a “long judicial investigation.”
She and Barret presented evidence that they said showed an “organized system” of embezzlement by which the party had aimed to “save money.”
Questioned last month about how exactly she selected her presumed parliamentary aides, and what their tasks were, Le Pen gave general answers, or said she could not remember.
If convicted, Le Pen would be able to lodge an appeal.
European Parliament authorities said the legislature had lost three million euros ($3.4 million) through the jobs scheme.
The RN has paid back one million euros, which it insists is not an admission of guilt.
French prosecutors demand Marine Le Pen be barred from office in fake jobs trial
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French prosecutors demand Marine Le Pen be barred from office in fake jobs trial
- The prosecution made the request in a Paris court where Le Pen, 56, and other defendants from her National Rally party are on trial accused of creating fake jobs at the EU parliament
- They deny the charges
What is Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’?
- Countries asked to pay $1 billion for a permanent spot on the board
- The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza
BRUSSELS: US President Donald Trump’s government has asked countries to pay $1 billion for a permanent spot on his “Board of Peace” aimed at resolving conflicts, according to its charter seen by AFP.
The board was originally conceived to oversee the rebuilding of Gaza, but the charter does not appear to limit its role to the occupied Palestinian territory.
WHAT WILL IT DO?
The Board of Peace will be chaired by Trump, according to its founding charter.
It is “an international organization that seeks to promote stability, restore dependable and lawful governance, and secure enduring peace in areas affected or threatened by conflict,” reads the preamble of the charter sent to countries invited to participate.
It will “undertake such peace-building functions in accordance with international law,” it adds.
WHO WILL RUN IT?
Trump will be chairman but also “separately serve as inaugural representative” of the US.
“The chairman shall have exclusive authority to create, modify, or dissolve subsidiary entities as necessary or appropriate to fulfil the Board of Peace’s mission,” the document states.
He will pick members of an executive board to be “leaders of global stature” to “serve two-year terms, subject to removal by the chairman.”
He may also, “acting on behalf of the Board of Peace,” “adopt resolutions or other directives.”
The chairman can be replaced only in case of “voluntary resignation or as a result of incapacity.”
WHO CAN BE A MEMBER?
Member states must be invited by the US president, and will be represented by their head of state or government.
Each member “shall serve a term of no more than three years,” the charter says.
But “the three-year membership term shall not apply to member states that contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the charter’s entry into force,” it adds.
The board will “convene voting meetings at least annually,” and “each member state shall have one vote.”
But while all decisions require “a majority of member states present and voting,” they will also be “subject to the approval of the chairman, who may also cast a vote in his capacity as chairman in the event of a tie.”
WHO’S ON THE EXECUTIVE BOARD?
The executive board will “operationalize” the organization’s mission, according to the White House, which said it would be chaired by Trump and include seven members:
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special negotiator
Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law
Tony Blair, former UK prime minister
Marc Rowan, billionaire US financier
Ajay Banga, World Bank president
Robert Gabriel, loyal Trump aide on the National Security Council
WHICH COUNTRIES ARE INVITED?
Dozens of countries and leaders have said they have received an invitation.
They include China, India, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky and Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Argentina’s President Javier Milei have also confirmed an invite.
Other countries to confirm invites include Jordan, Brazil, Paraguay, Pakistan and a host of nations from Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.
WHO WILL JOIN?
Countries from Albania to Vietnam have indicated a willingness to join the board.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Trump’s most ardent supporter in the European Union, is also in.
Canada said it would take part, but explicitly ruled out paying the $1-billion fee for permanent membership.
It is unclear whether others who have responded positively — Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Morocco and Vietnam among them — would be willing to pay the $1 billion.
WHO WON’T BE INVOLVED?
Long-time US ally France has indicated it will not join. The response sparked an immediate threat from Trump to slap sky-high tariffs on French wine.
Zelensky said it would be “very hard” to be a member of a council alongside Russia, and diplomats were “working on it.”
WHEN DOES IT START?
The charter says it enters into force “upon expression of consent to be bound by three States.”
