The three defense lawyers showered the president of the Court of Appeals with thanks on Monday, February 9, even though she had hardly gone easy on their clients. Holding no grudges, they even extended praise to the prosecutors, despite their closing argument being far from lenient. The court was not fooled: It was clearly a strategy to make the lower court’s decision look unreasonably harsh, in the trial for embezzlement of Marine Le Pen and several members of her party over suspected European Parliament fake jobs.
Nicolas Bay’s lawyer was the fiercest, denouncing “the caricature of justice” in the lower court. His client, a member of the European Parliament, was sentenced on March 31, 2025, to 12 months in prison, six of which suspended, and a three-year ban on holding elected office. “The first-instance judges twisted the law,” argued Bernard Perret. “We hope the flaws of the lower court, the political flaws, will be set aside.” Like his colleagues, he argued that the legal basis for the prosecution was “inapplicable to the facts of the case” and added, “It will take a great deal of courage from you to fully acquit all the defendants.”
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