Pen

Paris appeals court to rule July 7 in Marine Le Pen fraud case that could reshape 2027 race A Paris appeals court will deliver its ruling on July 7 in a fraud case against far-right leader Marine Le Pen, a decision poised to set the course of France’s next presidential contest. The lower court last year imposed a five-year ban from public office on Le Pen, 57, over a fake jobs scheme at the European Parliament. If the appeals court upholds that verdict, the three-time presidential candidate would be barred from running in…

Marine Le Pen opened her appeal in a high-profile “fake jobs” case by telling judges she had “no sense of having committed the slightest offence” when her far-right party employed European Parliament assistants dating back to 2004 — a proceeding that could decide whether she can run for France’s presidency in 2027. The former National Front leader, who now heads the National Rally (RN) bloc in parliament, argued the European institution was aware of the elements underpinning the contracts. “We concealed nothing,” she said,…

The trial of Marine Le Pen, the prominent leader of France's far-right National Rally (RN) party, is now underway. She's facing accusations of misusing European Union funds but maintains that she will demonstrate her innocence throughout the proceedings. Le Pen, along with the RN and twenty-four others—ranging from party officials to former politicians and parliamentary aides—stands accused of diverting funds intended for European Parliament operations to pay personnel engaged in party work. At that time, the party was…