The fate of the French extreme right leader Le Pen hangs on the balance while prosecutors seek to ban it from the position-firstpost

The French leader of the extreme right Marine Le Pen, who in two weeks will learn his destiny in a trial of embezzlement, says prosecutors who demand that they face an instantaneous prohibition of the five -year public office has fought an unprecedented assault on their presidential hopes.

The 56 -year -old National Rally (RN) leader, who directs the surveys for the 2027 presidential vote, accuses prosecutors of seeking their “political death” by asking the judges to prohibit her from office if she is declared guilty, immediately, even if she appeals.

That, he says, is “completely disproportionate” compared to other cases.

However, since the approval of the Sapin II Anti-In-Factory Law in 2016, a growing number of politicians convicted of corruption has received such prohibitions, which may worry Le Pen as the verdict of March 31 is approaching.

“These precedents show that the judges are not inhibited in any way,” said Philippe Petit, a lawyer who has represented several uncollectible politicians. “The same can happen to her.”

Le Pen, the RN and about two dozen parties figures are accused of diverting more than 3 million euros ($ 3.27 million) of European funds to pay staff in France. They say the money was legitimately used. RN spokesman Laurent Jacobelli did not respond to a comment request for this article.

The application of prosecutors Louise Neyton and Nicolas Barret of an immediate five -year bar in Le Pen, through the so -called “provisional execution”, electrified the French policy.

In general, in France, prayers for non -serious crimes, or those committed by criminals for the first time, do not apply until the appeal process has followed its course. However, if the judges apply a “provisional execution”, the sentence begins immediately.

Judges can adopt, modify or reject the request of prosecutors.

At the request of a Mayotte councilor, the Constitutional Court of France is analyzing the legality of “provisional execution” in cases of inelegability. A first hearing is Tuesday with a final decision before April 3. A favorable decision would mean that Le Pen has few possibilities of being prohibited.

However, if he is declared guilty and is given a prohibition of “provisional execution” of five years, his only hopes of running rest in his conviction and sentence that is revoked before 2027.

Neyton and Barret said they looked for a “provisional execution” against Le Pen and his coacked for repeated efforts to play for time in an investigation that dates back to almost a decade. They discussed an immediate prohibition would avoid repeated repetitions.

Judicial examiner?

His impulse has led to the accusations of judicial overreach by the allies of Le Pen and the criticisms of some conventional politicians, including Prime Minister Francois Bayrou and Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin. He has also taken prosecutors and a judge who received death threats, Reuters reported, part of the worldwide friction about judicial efforts to police policy.

The Superior Court of Romania recently prevented the extreme right -wing politician for Calin Georgescu to run for president, which caused the criticisms of the United States president’s team, Donald Trump.

Sapin II was aimed at aligning France’s anti -corruption rules with those of its peers and correcting a generalized perception of impunity for the political class stained with grafts of France. The law made eligibility an automatic punishment for all politicians convicted of corruption.

Inelegibility is not limited to corruption and also applies to other crimes, including sexual crimes, fraud and terrorism. In 2023, more than 16,000 people were not eligible, an increase of almost 1,000% since 2019, according to data from the Ministry of Justice.

Reuters could not determine how many politicians had been prohibited from position, since the data does not distinguish between elected officials and other professions.

Three politicians and disqualification lawyers told Reuters that prosecutors demand more and more inevitability sentences of “provisional execution”, and judges often comply.

Brigitte Bareges, a former right -wing mayor of the Southern City of Montuban, was convicted of embezzlement in 2021, and gave him a fine and suspended prison sentence and a five -year political prohibition with “provisional execution.”

“It was violent, brutal,” he said. “I was so embarrassed because all my life I have fought against corruption.”

Bareges, who was acquitted in appeal, described his sentence of “provisional execution” as a success of success by a politicized judiciary. She said Le Pen has good reasons to fear “leftist judges” who “can exceed objectivity and MLLR to eliminate a presidential candidate who could well be elected.”

The Ministry of Justice did not respond to a request for comments.

Confrontation

Eric Landot, a lawyer who has written about Le Pen’s trial, said that if he is convicted, the judges will have difficulties in achieving a balance between showing the law is the same for everyone, while avoiding accusations of political interference.

Robin Binsard, a lawyer who represents the inhebrous politician Patrick Balkany, said “any decision made by the judges, will be strongly criticized.”

But he said that French legislators had reached their own objective by approving Sapin II: “They gave the judges the tools to significantly invade the Executive Power.”

A senior source of RN said that the powerful Wingman of Le Pen, Jordan Bardella, 2, would run in 2027 if he cannot, but added that they believed it would not be prohibited.

For years, the RN has been trying to clean its image by eliminating anti -Semitic and racist elements, while underlines its good institutional faith. If Le Pen is prohibited, he could mark the beginning of a Trumpian era of confrontation between the RN, the largest party in Parliament, and the institutions of France.

“The risk with this kind of thing is that by constantly attacking people, one day people will rise,” said Paul Baudry, the former mayor of Bassussarry in southwest France, who was sentenced by graft in 2020, and gave him a prohibition of “provisional execution” of 10 years.