French far-right leader Marine Le Pen convicted in embezzlement trial
Topic:World Politics
11m ago11 minutes agoMon 31 Mar 2025 at 9:09am
A woman in a blue jacket
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has denied any wrongdoing. (Reuters: Stephanie Lecocq)
A Paris court has convicted French far-right leader Marine Le Pen of embezzling money from the European parliament.
Le Pen and 24 other officials from her National Rally Party are accused of using money intended for European Union parliamentary aides to pay party staff between 2004 and 2016, violating the 27-nation bloc's regulations.
The court ruled on Monday, local time, that Le Pen and eight members of the European parliament were guilty of misappropriating the EU funds.
Le Pen, 56, and other co-defendants denied any wrongdoing during the nine-week trial that took place in late 2024.
A woman gets out of a car
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been accused of misappropriating of European Union funds. (Reuters: Benoit Tessier)
Le Pen was runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her party's electoral support has grown in recent years.
She has denied accusations she was at the head of "a system" meant to siphon off EU parliament money to benefit her party, which she led from 2011 to 2021.
A blonde woman surrounded by cameras and men in suits
Marine Le Pen and 24 other party officials are accused of embezzling European parliament funds. (Reuters: Sarah Meyssonnier)
She argued instead that it was acceptable to adapt the work of the aides paid by the European parliament to the needs of the politicians, including some highly political work related to the party.
While testifying, Le Pen told the court: "I absolutely don't feel I have committed the slightest irregularity, the slightest illegal move."
Hearings showed some EU money was used to pay for Le Pen's bodyguard — who was once her father's bodyguard — as well as her personal assistant.
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AFP/AP
Posted11m ago11 minutes agoMon 31 Mar 2025 at 9:09am, updated7m ago7 minutes agoMon 31 Mar 2025 at 9:13am
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