Marine Le Pen denies allegations of misuse of EU funds in fresh appeal trial. The far-right leader is seeking to overturn a five-year ban from running for office and a €100,000 fine after being found guilty of an extensive fake jobs scam at the European parliament.
In a hearing at the Paris appeals court on Tuesday, Le Pen insisted that there was no "system" set up by her party to misuse EU funds. She described the word as "bothersome", suggesting it implies manipulation. The 57-year-old also denied ever instructing European parliament members to hire assistants for work that would benefit the Front National (National Rally), her party.
Le Pen's lawyers argue that she was not copied in on an email cited as evidence of a system of fake jobs, and that if she had known about it, she would have reacted differently. The email appears to show a conversation between two former party members, including one European parliament member who allegedly told Le Pen to instruct 23 MEPs to hire just one assistant.
Le Pen also disputed claims made by some former party members, describing them as "terribly hostile" and similar to accusations in a divorce. Her lawyers are seeking to overturn the verdict alongside 10 of the 24 party members convicted last year.
The appeals court will consider evidence that taxpayer money allocated to MEPs was siphoned off by Le Pen's party to pay its own workers, resulting in an estimated loss of €4.8m (£4.2m). The trial is expected to conclude before the summer and will determine Le Pen's eligibility to run for president next year.
If she fails to overturn her conviction, Le Pen would be replaced as party president by Jordan Bardella, who is 30 years younger than the current leader.
In a hearing at the Paris appeals court on Tuesday, Le Pen insisted that there was no "system" set up by her party to misuse EU funds. She described the word as "bothersome", suggesting it implies manipulation. The 57-year-old also denied ever instructing European parliament members to hire assistants for work that would benefit the Front National (National Rally), her party.
Le Pen's lawyers argue that she was not copied in on an email cited as evidence of a system of fake jobs, and that if she had known about it, she would have reacted differently. The email appears to show a conversation between two former party members, including one European parliament member who allegedly told Le Pen to instruct 23 MEPs to hire just one assistant.
Le Pen also disputed claims made by some former party members, describing them as "terribly hostile" and similar to accusations in a divorce. Her lawyers are seeking to overturn the verdict alongside 10 of the 24 party members convicted last year.
The appeals court will consider evidence that taxpayer money allocated to MEPs was siphoned off by Le Pen's party to pay its own workers, resulting in an estimated loss of €4.8m (£4.2m). The trial is expected to conclude before the summer and will determine Le Pen's eligibility to run for president next year.
If she fails to overturn her conviction, Le Pen would be replaced as party president by Jordan Bardella, who is 30 years younger than the current leader.
. She's always trying to spin it, saying it's "bothersome" and that she had no idea about all the fake jobs her party was scamming EU funds from. Like, come on! She's not fooling anyone anymore 
. And now she's going after 10 of her own party members who got convicted alongside her? That just shows how much of a team player she really is 
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. And what about all that taxpayer money that got siphoned off by her party? €4.8m gone down the drain! It's not like she was running a small business or something, it was EU funds we're talking about 
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. Maybe she can just step down and spare everyone the drama?
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The €4.8m loss is pretty staggering too... Does anyone know how many public servants could have been employed with that kind of money instead of just enriching the Front National? 
I mean, it's no surprise that she'd deny any wrongdoings but like, €100k fine and a five-year ban from running for office? that's some serious heat 
and now her party members are saying they're being "terribly hostile" and it just feels like another episode of Game of Thrones 
where everyone's got an axe to grind. I guess we'll have to wait and see how this trial goes down but one thing's for sure, the drama never ends with Marine Le Pen 
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. At least he's not accused of being involved in some dodgy dealings 
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. And honestly, I don't buy her "bothersome" excuse 
. I'm hoping the appeals court will see through her attempts to deflect and get to the truth 
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. Like, if you're the leader of a party, don't be surprised when shady dealings come to light 
.
. Just a bunch of PR spin 
if you ask me 
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. She's saying that her party didn't have some kind of system in place to misuse EU funds, but it's hard to believe when you see an email conversation between two former party members talking about instructing MEPs to hire just one assistant for fake jobs 
.
. It'll be interesting to see if she can overturn that conviction and get back into politics 
.