The end of dreams about the Elysée Palace? The prosecutor's office wants to eliminate Le Pen from the elections

During the appeal trial of the leader of the French far right, Marine Le Pen, the prosecutor's office demanded that she be banned from participating in the elections for 5 years. The sentence he demands is four years in prison, three of which are suspended. The case concerns fictitious jobs for assistants to MEPs from Le Pen's party.

Le Pen was convicted in 2025 by a lower court, and an appeals court is considering her appeal against the verdict. On Tuesday, speeches were held in which the prosecution demanded a sentence. The verdict will be announced before this summer.

Electronic bracelet and 100,000 euro fine

Demanding a four-year prison sentence, including three suspended, the prosecutor's office considered that the “unsuspended” year could be replaced by supervision in the form of wearing an electronic bracelet. She demanded too fine of PLN 100,000 euro.

The ban on running for public office – in practice, the ban on participating in elections – is a key issue for Le Penwho intends to run for president in the 2027 elections. Such prohibitions are usually imposed in cases involving misappropriation of public funds.

A race against time and “plan B” with Bardella

When issuing a judgment, the court does not have to be guided by the prosecutor's requests. If he agreed to it, it could prevent Le Pen from running in the 2027 elections, although the prosecutor's office does not demand immediate execution of the sentence (unlike the first-instance court ruling). However, the AFP agency estimates that this nuance may become irrelevant because the Court of Cassation – if Le Pen turns to it in the event of a verdict – should comment before the presidential elections.

Le Pen would be allowed to participate in the elections by a ban on running for public office of less than two years (since it has been in force since March 2025) and a punishment that would not involve wearing an electronic bracelet.

However, for a long time Le Pen's party, the National Rally (RN), has been considering the scenario of putting forward another candidate in the presidential elections – Jordan Bardella. Le Pen's young associate, who holds the position of party chairman, has recently been overtaking the far-right leader in popularity polls.

What was the system of fictitious jobs?

The case, now before the appeals court, concerned the practices of Le Pen's party, formerly known as the Front National, in the European Parliament between 2004 and 2016. The accused were both former MEPs of this party and their former assistants. The court of first instance found that there was a system in which FN MEPs employed people as assistants in the EP who, instead of working for MEPs, performed tasks for the party. EP regulations prohibit this. Of the more than 20 people sentenced by the first-instance court, approximately half appealed against the verdict.

From Paris Anna Wróbel (PAP)

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