Defense pleadings began on Wednesday, February 4, before the Paris Court of Appeal in the case of the Front National's European parliamentary assistants, aiming to minimize the defendants' responsibility. The previous day's prosecution requisitions demand five years of ineligibility for Marine Le Pen, casting doubt on her 2027 presidential candidacy. The court's decision is expected before summer.
The appeal trial of the Front National's (FN) European parliamentary assistants, now Rassemblement National (RN), has been underway since January 13 before the Paris Court of Appeal. The twelve defendants are accused of embezzling public funds from the European Parliament. The prosecution's requisitions, delivered on Tuesday, February 3, by Thierry Ramonatxo and Stéphane Madoz-Blanchet, target Marine Le Pen with a sentence of four years in prison with three suspended, a 100,000 euro fine, and five years of ineligibility, without provisional execution. This severity, similar to the March 31, 2025, correctionnel court's ruling, heightens questions about the far-right leader's ability to run in the 2027 presidential election.
Defense pleadings began on Wednesday, February 4, with varying success for the twelve lawyers. Me Robert Apéry, the first to argue, highlighted the dossier's inconsistencies and criticized the 'political campaign' against judges mentioned by the civil party and prosecution. He pointed to a 'subliminal message' in attacks on the rule of law by Marine Le Pen, Jordan Bardella, Nicolas Sarkozy, François Bayrou, and Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Me Patrick Maisonneuve, lawyer for the European Parliament (civil party), had expressed concern the day before about these assaults, joking about the sudden interest in the Parliament from figures like Bayrou and Mélenchon, who face similar charges.
Marine Le Pen had vowed to exhaust all appeals to prove her innocence, benefiting from an accelerated timeline: appeal decision before summer 2026, and the Court of Cassation committing to a swift judgment if appealed. However, under pressure, she now hesitates to risk her candidacy before the judges, making her political future more hypothetical than ever.
