Marine Le Pen faces embezzlement trial with political future in France on the line
Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s hard right Rassemblement National, has a long record of shaking France’s political establishment.
But now she has another great battle to fight – one staged in a Paris court, with her own political future on the line.
Le Pen, along with 26 other people, is accused of being part of a decade-long campaign of embezzlement, allegedly taking European funds designed to pay for assistants and instead using the money to prop up her political party.
She denies the charges. But if found guilty in a trial expected to last two months, then the punishments could be devastating to her political ambitions, potentially denying her a run at the next presidential election, in 2027.
For the moment at least, Le Pen is the frontrunner in the 2027 French presidential election.
Pic: Reuters
To add to the complexity, Le Pen’s fellow defendants include her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, some of her most trusted political allies, as well as one-time assistants in the European Parliament and even her long-standing bodyguard.
If found guilty of fraud charges, Le Pen could face a jail sentence of up to 10 years, although this is considered highly unlikely.
Future presidency at stake
There could be a fine of up to €1m (£836,000) but, most importantly, a guilty verdict could also trigger a ban from public office for five years.
That would rule her out of standing in the next Presidential election, a race in which she is, for the moment at least, the front-runner.
The question on who could replace Le Pen might never arise, but it is still stirring debate
Pic: Reuters
Around 40% of people have said they would plan to vote for Le Pen in the first round, far more than the 23% who voted for her in the first round of the last election two years ago.
So what would happen should Le Pen be barred from standing? It is a question that might never arise, but is still stirring debate.
Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s protege, is not on trial because he was neither an MEP during the period in question – in fact, for most of it, he was at school.
Bardella ready to step in
But now, at the age of 29 and with a soaring profile, he would be the most likely person to replace Le Pen as the party’s presidential candidate.
The party’s original aspiration was for Bardella to be installed as prime minister under a Le Pen presidency. For him to move instead to the top job is not such a huge leap of faith.
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The allegations against Le Pen, and her party, were first recorded nearly a decade ago, back when the Rassemblement National (RN) was known as the Front National.
What is unarguable is that the European Parliament provides money to all its members to cover the costs of assistants. The rules dictate that this money can only be used for specific purposes, and not funnelled into party funding.
But lawyers for the defendants will argue that the parliament’s interpretation of what is meant by an “assistant” is too narrow; that a bodyguard, for instance, can be just as important to some MEPs as an office worker.
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Le Pen faces charges under two broad categories: firstly that she, as leader of the party, should have known about the fraud; secondly, that she was involved, as an MEP, in specific misconduct.
She is reportedly intent on attending court as often as her schedule allows, inspired, it is said, by the way in which Donald Trump has used his own legal travails to portray himself as a politician who stands up to power.
Her father, by contrast, will not be in court. At 96, Jean-Marie Le Pen’s lawyers say his health is too poor to allow him to attend.
World
Jair Bolsonaro: Brazilian Supreme Court judges vote to convict ex-president of attempting a coup
The majority of a panel of Brazilian Supreme Court judges have voted to convict the country’s former president Jair Bolsonaro of attempting a coup after his 2022 election defeat.
The far-right politician, who ruled Brazil between 2019 and 2022, was found guilty on five counts by three members of a five-justice panel.
Just one of the five judges has acquitted Bolsonaro and when the final one has voted, the panel will decide on the former president’s sentence – which could amount to decades in prison.
The five counts were trying to stage a coup, being part of an armed criminal organisation, attempted violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, being implicated in violence, and posing a serious threat to the state’s assets and listed heritage.
Pic: AP
The 70-year-old, who has denied any wrongdoing, is currently under house arrest at his home in Brasilia.
His lawyers have said they will appeal the verdict.
The ruling will deepen political divisions in Brazil and is also likely to prompt a backlash from the United States government.
Bolsonaro ally Donald Trump has already called the case a “witch hunt”, slapped Brazil with tariff hikes and revoked US visas for most members of Brazil’s high court.
Bolsonaro is the first former Brazilian president to be convicted of attempting a coup.
He has not attended the court proceedings, and on Thursday he was seen at his garage at his property, but did not talk to the media.
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Justice Carmen Lucia. Pic: AP
Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is overseeing the case, said on Tuesday that Bolsonaro was the leader of a coup plot and of a criminal organisation, and voted in favour of convicting him. Justices Flavio Dino, Carmen Lucia and Cristiano Zanin sided with Justice Moraes in the trial.
On Wednesday, another justice, Luiz Fux, disagreed and voted to acquit the ex-president of all charges.
Justice Lucia said she was convinced by the evidence the attorney general’s office put forward against Bolsonaro.
She said: “He is the instigator, the leader of an organisation that orchestrated every possible move to maintain or seize power.”
The far-right politician had been previously banned from running for office until 2030 in a different case.
He is expected to choose an heir who is likely to challenge President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva next year.
World
Qatari PM says Israel ‘killed any hope’ of releasing hostages as criticism over Doha attack intensifies
Qatar’s prime minister said Israel has “killed any hope” of seeing more hostages returned from Gaza after carrying out an attack targeting Hamas leadership in his country.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani intensified his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Tuesday’s unprecedented strike on Qatar, which killed at least six people.
“I was meeting one of the hostage’s families the morning of the attack,” Sheikh Mohammed told CNN in an interview aired late Wednesday.
“They are counting on this [ceasefire] mediation, they have no other hope for that.”
Sheikh Mohammed added that he thought Netanyahu had “just killed any hope for those hostages”.
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Ceasefire talks left in ‘tatters’
A total of 48 Israeli hostages captured during Hamas’ 7 October attacks on southern Israel have not been returned home.
With its attack in Qatar, Israel had sought to kill the political leaders of the Islamist group Hamas.
Hamas has said its top leaders survived the airstrike, but five members were killed, including the son of its exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator Khalil al Hayya.
The Israeli military operation in Doha has been widely condemned internationally and was particularly sensitive as Qatar has been mediating negotiations to bring about a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
US President Donald Trump reportedly held a heated phone call with Mr Netanyahu after the attack, telling him his decision to target Hamas leadership in Qatar was not wise, according to The Wall Street Journal.
There has been no immediate acknowledgement of the remarks from Mr Netanyahu, however, he’s continued to defend the strikes and threatened further action against Qatar.
“I say to Qatar and all nations who harbour terrorists, you either expel them or you bring them to justice,” Mr Netanyahu said. “Because if you don’t, we will.”
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A senior figure in the Qatari government, Dr Majed Al-Ansari, was the one to announce to the world on X that America’s call to alert them to the attack came 10 minutes after the first explosion sounded in Doha.
Dr Al-Ansari, who serves as Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson, recounted the moment of the attack to Sky News’ correspondent Sally Lockwood.
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“I was coming home to my family and the moment I stepped out of the car I started hearing the loud noises that can only be compared to bombs,” he said.
“Being a diplomat and working for the foreign ministry throughout the mediation that we have conducted, I immediately knew that that meant that something terrible has happened.
“I can’t tell you enough how as a father living here in Qatar, that moment was a moment of reckoning for me and for all my countrymen and people who reside here in Qatar, where our lives were at risk because of the narcissistic and personal ambitions of a political operator who wants to throw the whole region into chaos.”
Donald Trump had a heated phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his military targeted Hamas inside Qatar, according to a report.
The American president told Mr Netanyahu on Tuesday that the decision to strike inside the US ally’s territory was not wise, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing senior administration officials.
The Israeli prime minister responded by saying he had a brief window to launch the airstrike and took the opportunity, according to the newspaper.
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Anger over Israeli strikes on Qatar
A second call between the two leaders later that day was cordial, with Mr Trump asking Mr Netanyahu if the attack had been successful, the publication added.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of the Islamist group Hamas with the attack in the Qatari capital Doha on Tuesday.
Hamas has said its top leaders survived the airstrike, but five members were killed, including the son of its exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator Khalil al Hayya.
The Israeli military operation in Doha has been widely condemned internationally and was particularly sensitive as Qatar has been hosting and mediating in negotiations which are trying to bring about a ceasefire in the war in Gaza.
On Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu warned Qatar to either expel Hamas officials or “bring them to justice. Because if you don’t, we will”.
Qatar has hit back at him, saying his comments about the Gulf nation hosting a Hamas office were “reckless”.
Donald Trump with Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House earlier this year. Pic: Reuters
Meanwhile, the Israeli ambassador to the US, Yechiel Leiter, has said that if Israel failed to kill Hamas leaders on Tuesday, it would succeed next time.
“We have put terrorists on notice, wherever they may be… we’re going to pursue them, and we’re going to destroy those who will destroy us,” he said.
The airstrike took place shortly after Hamas claimed responsibility for Monday’s shooting at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem that killed six people.
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In another development, Sir Keir Starmer has had talks with Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Downing Street, with Mr Herzog saying they argued during a “tough meeting”.
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PM meets Israeli president
PM condemns Israeli action
The prime minister has condemned the Israeli attack in Qatar, and raised the matter with the president, saying it was “completely unacceptable”.
“He said the strikes were a flagrant violation of a key partner’s sovereignty and do nothing to secure the peace we all desperately want to see,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
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Israel has been angered by Britain’s plans to join several other Western countries, including France and Canada, in recognising a Palestinian state later this month – unless Israel meets conditions including a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Things were said that were tough and strong, and clearly we can argue, because when allies meet, they can argue. We are both democracies,” Mr Herzog said at an event at Chatham House.
He also proposed offering a “fact-finding mission” to Israel, “sitting with us and studying the situation in Gaza on the humanitarian level”.
“Because we have full answers, and we are fully transparent,” he said.
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