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
Arrest warrants issued for Israeli PM Netanyahu and former defence secretary Gallant and senior Hamas commander over alleged war crimes
Arrest warrants have been issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former defence secretary Yoav Gallant and a senior Hamas commander by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The warrants against the senior Israeli figures are for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza that Israel launched following the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
The prime minister’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.
Another warrant was issued for the arrest of Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Al Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, was the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks. It is unclear if he is still alive, following an airstrike that Israel claimed killed him earlier this year.
Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden described the warrants against Israeli leaders as “outrageous”, adding “whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas”.
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were a “mark of shame” for the ICC.
The court originally said it was seeking arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and today announced that it had rejected challenges by Israel and issued warrants of arrest.
The new UK Labour government said in the summer it would not oppose the ICC’s right to issue the warrants.
Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the UN general assembly. Pic: Reuters
Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant
In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged crimes.
These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
Netanyahu previously spoke of his “disgust” at the suggestion the ICC would seek an arrest warrant for him.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the ICC’s decision sent a “terrible message”.
“The court has minimised how Hamas fights – deliberately from within civilian infrastructure and cruelly using Palestinian civilians as human shields, tragically leading to many casualties,” the board said.
“Democratic governments, and people around the world, should consider how they would have responded to an October 7th perpetrated against their country, involving mass murder, rape, and hostage-taking.
“We should all be focused on defeating the Hamas terrorists, liberating the hostages, ensuring that civilians in Gaza receive all necessary aid and working towards a sustainable peace for Israelis and Palestinians to prevent these horrible conflicts in the future.
“The decision of the ICC is counter-productive in all these respects.”
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A video released by Hamas in 2005 shows a man identified as Mohammed Deif. Pic: AP
Warrant for Hamas leader
The ICC also said it has issued an arrest warrant for Hamas leader Al Masri, saying it has “reasonable grounds to believe” that he is responsible for crimes against humanity including murder, extermination, torture, rape, as well as war crimes including taking hostages.
Discussing the 7 October attacks, the court said: “In light of the coordinated killings of members of civilians at several separate locations, the Chamber also found that the conduct took place as part of a mass killing of members of the civilian population, and it therefore concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the crime against humanity of extermination was committed.”
In its statement, the ICC said the prosecution was not in a position to determine whether Al Masri is dead or alive, so was issuing the arrest warrant.
The court previously said it was seeking an arrest warrant for Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas who was subsequently killed in July.
The home secretary has refused to say if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he landed on British soil after an international arrest warrant was issued for him.
On Thursday, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli defence secretary Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the war in Gaza.
But Yvette Cooper said the ICC, which the UK is a member of, is independent and while the government respects that, it “wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment” on the processes involved.
She told Sky News: “We’ve always respected the importance of international law, but in the majority of the cases that they pursue, they don’t become part of the British legal process.
“What I can say is that obviously, the UK government’s position remains that we believe the focus should be on getting a ceasefire in Gaza.”
However, Emily Thornberry, Labour chair of the foreign affairs committee in parliament, told Sky News: “If Netanyahu comes to Britain, our obligation under the Rome Convention would be to arrest him under the warrant from the ICC.
“Not really a question of should, we are required to because we are members of the ICC.”
The government said after winning July’s election it would not oppose the ICC’s right to issue the warrants.
An ICC arrest warrant was also issued for Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al Masri, the mastermind behind the 7 October attacks in Israel, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Israel claims Al Masri was killed earlier this year but the ICC said that has not been confirmed, so it was issuing the arrest warrant.
Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant (right) have arrest warrants against them. File pic: Reuters
Netanyahu’s office said the warrants against him and Gallant were “anti-semitic” and said Israel “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions”.
Neither Israel nor the US are members of the ICC. Israel has rejected the court’s jurisdiction and denies committing war crimes in Gaza.
US President Joe Biden described the warrants against Israeli leaders as “outrageous”, adding: “Whatever the ICC might imply, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas.”
Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett said the warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant were a “mark of shame” for the ICC.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the ICC’s decision sent a “terrible message”.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Friday he would invite Netanyahu to visit Hungary and he would guarantee the arrest warrant would “not be observed”.
However, both France and Italy signalled they would arrest Netanyahu if he came to their countries.
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Why have arrest warrants been issued?
The ICC originally said it was seeking arrest warrants for the three men in May for the alleged crimes and on Thursday announced that it had rejected challenges by Israel and issued warrants of arrest.
In its update, the ICC said it found “reasonable grounds to believe” that Netanyahu and Gallant “bear criminal responsibility” for alleged crimes.
These, the court said, include “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare; and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts”.
It is the first time a sitting leader of a major Western ally has been accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity by a global court of justice.
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