Provocateur Le Pen go to jail

The Paris prosecutor's office has requested that Marine Le Pen, the leader of the parliamentary faction of the far-right National Rally party, be sentenced to five years in prison (three of them suspended) in a case involving the misuse of European Parliament funds. The prosecution also demands that the party be fined two million euros. Earlier, Le Pen had already been ordered to pay 330,000 euros to the European Parliament.

According to DW, if the court agrees with the charges, 56-year-old Le Pen will not only face two years in prison but will also be banned from running in the 2027 French presidential election, as she will be prohibited from holding public office during her sentence. Moreover, the prosecutor’s office demands that the ban on holding public office be enforced immediately, even if her lawyers file an appeal.

Le Pen herself denies all charges and maintains her innocence.

The investigation into the embezzlement of European Parliament funds began in 2015. The prosecutor’s office launched an inquiry amid suspicions that representatives of the National Front (as Le Pen’s party was called at the time) had illegally hired 20 European Parliament employees. These individuals, who received salaries from the EP, worked for the National Front instead. In 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in a similar case and fined Le Pen and her associate Bruno Gollnisch 330,000 euros.

The trial involving Le Pen’s party began in late September. In addition to Le Pen herself, over 20 party representatives are accused of embezzling EU funds. They are alleged to have covertly financed the party by fictitiously hiring assistants for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The maximum penalty for this charge is up to 10 years in prison. The total damage is estimated at nearly 7 million euros. The scheme involved the National Front placing people in assistant roles for MEPs, but they did not work for the MEPs they were listed as assistants to. Instead, they worked directly for Le Pen. For instance, it was revealed that Thierry Legier, who had worked for nearly 20 years as an "assistant" to an MEP, was actually serving as Marine Le Pen’s bodyguard.

Interestingly, it seems that many individuals associated with the Armenian lobby or those who have supported Armenian interests in the past have been involved in scandals or criminal activities. Le Pen is not the first such figure, as defenders of the Armenian cause have frequently been linked to controversies. This is hardly surprising, as many of her supporters, particularly among the pro-Armenian factions, have been associated with far-right ideologies, including Nazism, racism, and xenophobia. When Armenian voices are needed, these figures often adopt positions that appeal to the Armenian community. For example, in 2022, Le Pen courted the Armenian diaspora during her presidential campaign, stating that she dreamed of seeing Nagorno-Karabakh rejoin Armenia. One could argue that such limited ambitions speak poorly of her imagination.

These statements did not benefit Le Pen, however. The French presidency was ultimately won by another figure with far-right tendencies — Emmanuel Macron, who some might argue shares similar ideologies. The French electorate, it seems, had little choice — if you don't vote for one, you end up with the other.

If the court convicts her, Madame Le Pen will have two full years to reflect on her actions in silence and solitude, perhaps dreaming of something "loftier."