Marine Le Pen Sentenced to Four Years in Prison, Two of Which Are Firm, in the Parliamentary Assistants Case
Marine Le Pen Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Parliamentary Fraud
Marine Le Pen, Member of Parliament and leader of the National Rally (Rassemblement National) at the National Assembly, was sentenced on Monday by the Paris correctional court to four years in prison, two of which are to be served under electronic surveillance. This ruling comes at the conclusion of a highly publicized trial, pivotal for the political career of France’s far-right leader.
Le Pen was found guilty, alongside eight other co-defendants, in what is known as the “European Parliament assistants” case. She was charged with misusing funds allocated by the European Parliament to pay assistants who were, in fact, working for her party, the National Rally, during her tenure as a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017.
The court determined that the financial damages stemming from this fraud amounted to over 4 million euros. In addition to her prison sentence, Marine Le Pen has been hit with a five-year ban from holding public office, with immediate effect.
