The leader of the French far-right Marine Le Pen has been found guilty of misuse of public funds by a court in France, without, for the time being, the sentence against her having been announced, especially whether she will be deprived of the right to be elected.
Along with Le Pen, the court found 8 MEPs from her party guilty of misappropriating an amount of 474.000 euros.
At the same time, twelve assistants to MEPs were found guilty of accepting illegal goods. The total damage from the actions of the defendants who were found guilty is estimated at 2,9 million euros.
It is noted that the prosecutor's proposal, developed on November 13, 2024, provides for Marine Le Pen not only to be deprived of the right to be elected for five years, but also to receive a three-year suspended prison sentence, as well as the imposition of a fine totaling 300.000 euros.
It is recalled that the case concerned the misuse of public funds and, in particular, whether for a number of years Marine Le Pen's party used the European funds it was entitled to receive from the European Parliament to pay its professional staff and not, as it should, the associates of its MEPs.
Source: protothema
