France's highest court has rejected Marine Le Pen's appeal, making final her 500-euro suspended fine for defaming the migrant aid group La Cimade. The 2022 statements accused the organization of facilitating illegal immigration from the Comores to Mayotte. The association's lawyer welcomes the ruling as exceeding the bounds of free speech.
France's Cour de cassation delivered its ruling on Tuesday, December 16, upholding the Paris appeal court's decision from September 11, 2024. Marine Le Pen, far-right leader of the Rassemblement national, faced charges over statements made in a January 2022 BFM-TV interview while campaigning for the presidential election.
Responding to questions about humanitarian groups' roles, she stated: "Sometimes, yes. [They] are even complicit with the smugglers, yes, sometimes." She then directly targeted La Cimade, an organization fighting xenophobia and immigrant exclusion, claiming it "organizes the illegal immigration network from the Comores" to Mayotte.
Patrice Spinosi, La Cimade's lawyer, told AFP: "Ms. Le Pen's remarks equating La Cimade's actions with those of migrant smugglers were unacceptable. The Cour de cassation rules that the limits of freedom of expression have been exceeded. Being a political figure does not excuse all excesses."
This case adds to challenges for Le Pen, who is currently ineligible due to a first-instance conviction in the European parliamentary assistants affair involving her former party, the FN. Her appeal in that matter is set for January 13 to February 12, 2026, a pivotal moment ahead of the 2027 presidential race.
