A devout Catholic, Marine Le Pen is now praying for a judicial “miracle.” The prosecution’s unyielding closing argument, delivered at a Paris appeals court on Tuesday, February 3, brought the far-right leader back to the common reality of law and justice. Prosecutors Thierry Ramonatxo and Stéphane Madoz-Blanchet requested that she be sentenced to four years in prison, with three suspended; a €100,000 fine; and a five-year ban on being elected to public office, on charges of embezzling public funds for suspected fake jobs at the European Parliament. This was only slightly more lenient than the initial sentence, handed down by a criminal court on March 31, 2025.
Le Pen learnt one lesson from the initial trial: Given the lack of clarity about her legal future, which is solely in the judges’ hands, the prosecution’s closing arguments could darken her political prospects. Even without trying to predict the court’s ruling, which will be delivered before the summer, the prosecution’s consistently tough stance in the appeal trial has only heightened doubts about her ability to run her fourth presidential election campaign in 2027. Unless, that is, the court’s three judges decide to rule against the prosecution’s arguments this time.
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