Surprise twist: Marine Le Pen’s sentence changed

A strong woman of the French far-right Marine Le Pen57, can theoretically run for the country’s presidential election next year.

Le Pen’s candidacy has depended on the success of her appeal against the embezzlement conviction.

Last year, he was sentenced to four years in prison and disqualified from voting for five years. So he should not have run for public office.

Le Pen has been the National Alliance’s presidential candidate three times and twice reached the second round of the elections. However, he lost both times Emmanuel Macronille.

Le Pen’s appeal was heard on Tuesday at the Paris Court of Appeal, and the verdict was amended.

According to the French media, the court ordered Le Pen a fine of 100,000 euros and a three-year prison sentence, of which two years are suspended. Unconditional punishment is carried out under house arrest using an electronic ankle bracelet.

The court also shortened his ban from standing for election to just under four years, of which 30 months are suspended.

The verdict means that Le Pen is not legally ineligible to vote in next spring’s presidential elections. However, house arrest and electronic monitoring may prove to be a practical problem.

According to Le Figaro Le Pen has previously made it a condition of her candidacy that she not be judged for wearing an ankle bracelet.

The conditions of house arrest will be determined later by a separate judge. Le Pen may be allowed to leave her home in certain situations, such as for work or family reasons.

Le Pen is scheduled to comment on the issue this evening on the news broadcast of the French TV channel TF1.

Le Pen is a long-term politician and the former chairman of the National Alliance Jean-Marie Le Penin daughter. Marine Le Pen led the party from 2011 to 2021. In the years 2004–2017, he served as a member of the European Parliament.

The European Parliament’s money was misused

The scandal related to the embezzlement of public funds is about the fact that the prosecutor considered that the National Alliance had misused the funds of the European Parliament.

It used money intended to pay assistants’ salaries to pay salaries to people who actually worked for the party in France and not in the European Parliament.

The Court of Appeal confirmed on Tuesday that the European Parliament has fallen victim to embezzlement of public funds.

“Can a person stand as a candidate for the presidential election if he has been finally convicted of misuse of public funds?” European Parliament lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve asked after the verdict.

Jordan Bardella waits his turn

Le Pen’s trial has been closely followed in France and the European Union. If Le Pen does not run, the National Coalition’s presidential candidate will most likely be the party’s chairman, MEP Jordan Bardella30. He is also a protégé of Marine Le Pen.

Bardella recently noted Politico magazine in an interview that he wants to halve France’s EU membership fee and build alliances with nationalist governments.

“We don’t want to leave the European Union. We want to change everything without destroying anything,” Bardella stated.

Bardella has spent almost his entire working career in the service of the National Alliance. He joined the party in 2012 as a student and quickly rose to become the party’s spokesperson, vice-president and MEP.

Bardella’s private life has attracted attention, as he is dating an Italian princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon of the Two Sicilies’n with. The relationship with an aristocratic influence does not necessarily appeal to low-income voters.