France’s Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen Is Banned From Public Office After Graft Conviction

TIME

A French court on Monday barred Marine Le Pen from seeking public office for five years, with immediate effect, for embezzlement -- a hammer blow to the far-right leader’s presidential hopes.

Transcript

00:00Yes, I understood, in any case, that the court had targeted the defense system and the behavior

00:08of the audience.

00:09It is something, during the three months of the hearing that we had, that we had

00:13noted, where there was a systematic denial of what had happened during those years.

00:19And I have the impression that the court, well, I have the conviction, that the court

00:22really took into account this situation, this posture, in any case, of denial, by saying

00:28that since you are in the most total denial, well, I consider the judiciary of Paris to

00:33be at risk of recidivism, and so I apply the provisional execution on the additional penalty

00:38of ineligibility.

00:39That's it.

00:40This is the decision she feared the most.

00:43A French court barred Marine Le Pen from seeking public office for five years for embezzlement,

00:49with immediate effect.

00:50That means that even if she decides to appeal the verdict, such a move won't suspend her

00:56ineligibility.

00:58That could rule her out of the next presidential race, scheduled in just two years from now.

01:04The verdict came as a resounding defeat for Le Pen.

01:08She left the courtroom even before the sentence was read, when she understood she would be

01:13declared ineligible.

01:15Le Pen has been twice a runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in previous presidential elections,

01:21and she was set to be a leading contender in the next one, especially since her far-right

01:27party has gained strength in recent years.

01:30Le Pen and 24 other officials from her national rally are accused of having used money intended

01:37for EU parliamentary aid to pay staff who worked instead for her party between 2004

01:45and 2016.

Category

Transcript

Recommended