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.
A new aid system has opened its first distribution centres in Gaza, according to a US-backed organisation dealing with supplies.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began its operations in the territory on Monday, following the resignation of its director, Jake Wood, over its independence.
Gaza’s 2.3m population has been pushed towards famine by Israel’s almost three-month blockade.
Boxes of aid to be distributed across Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
The GHF said lorryloads of food – it did not say how many – had been delivered to its hubs, and distribution to Palestinians had begun.
“More trucks with aid will be delivered tomorrow, with the flow of aid increasing each day,” it said in a statement.
The controversial group, backed by Israel and the United States, has been rejected by the United Nations and other aid groups.
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People line up for food in Gaza
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the GHF.
They claim Israel is weaponising food, and the new distribution system will be ineffective and lead to further displacement of Palestinians.
They also argue the GHF will fail to meet local needs, and violates humanitarian principles that prohibit a warring party from controlling humanitarian assistance.
In the meantime, scores of Palestinians in Gaza, like Islam Abu Taima, have resorted to searching through rubbish to find food.
Palestinians are having to search through rubbish to find food
She found a small pile of cooked rice, scraps of bread, and a box with a few pieces of cheese inside it – which she said she will serve to her five children.
“We’re dying of hunger,” she told the Associated Press news agency.
“If we don’t eat, we’ll die.”
Islam Abu Taeima finds a piece of bread in a pile of rubbish in Gaza City. Pic: AP.
It is unclear how many of the GHF’s aid trucks will enter Gaza.
It claims it will reach one million Palestinians by the end of the week.
There are questions, however, over who is funding it and how it will work.
Trucks transporting aid for Palestinians in Rafah. Pic: Reuters.
It has been set up as part of an Israeli plan – rather than a UN distribution effort.
Israel, which suggested a similar plan earlier this year, has said it will not be involved in distributing the aid but supported the plan and would provide security.
It says aid deliveries into Gaza are taken by Hamas instead of going to civilians.
Aid groups, however, say there is no evidence of this happening on a systemic basis.
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Israel began to allow a limited amount of food into Gaza last week – after a blockade that prevented food, medicine, fuel and other goods from entering the Palestinian enclave.
A letter has been signed by hundreds of judges and lawyers calling on the UK government to impose trade sanctions on Israel.
It also calls for Israeli ministers to be sanctioned and the suspension of Israel from the UN over “serious breaches of international law”.
“Genocide is being perpetrated in Gaza or that, at a minimum, there is a serious risk of genocide,” the letter says.
The Israeli government has repeatedly dismissed allegations of genocide in Gaza.
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At least 31 dead after school attack
More than 52,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its ground invasion of Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, following the deadly attacks by the militant group on Israel, which killed 1,200 people and saw around 250 people taken hostage.
The health ministry’s figures do not differentiate between civilians and fighters in Gaza.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are being urged to use their visit to Canada to seek an apology for the abuse of British children.
Campaigners have called on them to pursue an apology for the “dire circumstances” suffered by so-called “Home Children” over decades.
More than 100,000 were shipped from orphan homes in the UK to Canada between 1869 and 1948 with many used as cheap labour, typically as farm workers and domestic servants. Many were subject to mistreatment and abuse.
Canada has resisted calls to follow the UK and Australia in apologising for its involvement in child migrant schemes.
King Charles and Mark Carney on Monday. Pic: PA
Campaigners for the Home Children say the royal visit presents a “great opportunity” for a change of heart.
“I would ask that King Charles uses his trip to request an apology,” John Jefkins told Sky News.
John’s father Bert was one of 115,000 British Home Children transported to Canada, arriving in 1914 with his brother Reggie.
“It’s really important for the Home Children themselves and for their descendants,” John said.
“It’s something we deserve and it’s really important for the healing process, as well as building awareness of the experience of the Home Children.
“They were treated very, very badly by the Canadian government at the time. A lot of them were abused, they were treated horribly. They were second-class citizens, lepers in a way.”
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John Jefkins
John added: “I think the King’s visit provides a great opportunity to reinforce our campaign and to pursue an apology because we’re part of the Commonwealth and King Charles is a new Head of the Commonwealth meeting a new Canadian prime minister. It’s a chance, for both, to look at the situation with a fresh eye.
“There’s much about this visit that looks on our sovereignty and who we are as Canadians, rightly so.
“I think it’s also right that in contemplating the country we built, we focus on the people who built it, many in the most trying of circumstances.”
The issue was addressed by the then Prince of Wales during a tour of Canada in May 2022. He said at the time: “We must find new ways to come to terms with the darker and more difficult aspects of the past.”
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King Charles and Queen Camilla are on a two-day visit to Canada.
On Tuesday, the King will deliver the Speech from the Throne to open the 45th session of Canada’s parliament.
Camilla was made Patron of Barnardo’s in 2016. The organisation sent tens of thousands of Home Children to Canada. She took on the role, having served as president since 2007.
Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.
A spokesperson for the Canadian government said: “The government of Canada is committed to keeping the memory of the British Home Children alive.
“Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada deeply regrets this unjust and discriminatory policy, which was in place from 1869 to 1948. Such an approach would have no place in modern Canada, and we must learn from past mistakes.”
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