The Paris Court of Appeal announced tonight that they were filed against, with which it was found guilty, along with eight associates, for embezzlement of public money and was sentenced to deprivation of his right to be elected for five years.
The court said it will “examine the file” within the projected time limits and would be able to issue its decision “in the summer of 2026”.
Once the timetable is observed, the decision to abuse European funds by the head of the National Alarm will be announced many months before the presidential election, as many political officials have requested.
Earlier on Tuesday, Justice Minister Gerard Darmann had requested in his statements to hold the trial within the “most reasonable feasible time”, while recalling that “it would be up to the Paris Court of Appeal, which is absolutely independent (…).
According to the usual timetables of the French judicial system, this possible trial is not expected to be held for at least one year, with a decision expected many weeks later.
The presidential elections in France are projected to take place in 2027.
In and out of the far -right and populist fire
The manipulation of the “system” denounced in the meantime, the day after the judicial decision, Marin Lepen and a national alarm.
Populists and far -right, from the Kremlin and the, to Hungary, have been defending it, condemning the conviction against her. Among other things, the Kremlin spokesman, the, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban, the Italian Prime Minister and the Vice -President of the Government and Right -wing President Lega Matteo Salvini, the Dutch far -right politician Gerrert Gerrem Donald Trump.
Complaining “intervention by judges in the presidential election”, Lepen today attacked the “establishment” who “threw a nuclear bomb” against her. “If they resort to such extreme measures against us, it is obvious that we are on the verge of winning the election,” the MP of the National Alarm (RN), referring to the 2027 presidential election, told her party. “
Earlier this morning, the president of the far -right French party national alarm, Zordan Bardela, denounced “the tyranny of judges”, though he condemned “threats, insults and insults” to them.
Lepen’s “support” rally will be organized in Paris on Sunday, National Alarm (RN) announced.
French Prime Minister Francois Bairou stressed that he offers his “unconditional, countless support” to judges who issued the verdict against Lepen. He ruled that the government “has no right” to “criticize” a court ruling, but he himself said he was concerned.
“Justice is not political, this ruling is not a political decision, but a judicial, and was taken by three independent, impartial judges,” said one of France’s two senior judges, Remy Aids, reacting to Criticism for Lepen’s conviction.
The Paris Criminal Court’s ruling has triggered mixed reactions from the French political order, with some from the Right and the Radical Left declaring opposing or keeping distances from the judges’ ruling, while socialists, environmentalists and communists.
What do French media say
With mixed emotions and opposing approaches, French media, analysts and political figures welcomed yesterday’s court ruling for Marin Lepen. In a report under the heading “After Lepen’s conviction, the government is afraid of political impact”, the newspaper The world She focuses on Prime Minister François Bairou’s statement that she is “puzzled” by the penalty of five -year exclusion imposed on the President of the National Alarm MPs.
The newspaper notes that while members of the Government are customary to comment on court rulings, Prime Minister Bairou said on Monday that he felt “concerned about the decision” and that this statement was echoing his concerns, which he was confessed to Sunday 30/3. Le Figaro: “If Lepen cannot go down, there is a risk of shock to public opinion.”
The newspaper notes that Prime Minister Bairou’s stance was strongly criticized by the left. The first secretary of the Socialist Party Olivier Fort said that it was “annoyed by that reflection”, while noting that “respect for law, rule of law and the distinction of powers is no longer on the government’s agenda”. However, as clarified in the report, Bairo’s sympathy to Lepen is also linked to his own legal issues, as – as president of the Modem party – had been tried in a similar case before being acquitted in the first instance of February 2024, a decision against which the prosecutor appealed. Hence his ambiguity to justice, the French newspaper notes
On the other hand Le Figaro He publishes a text by Constitutionalist Benzame Morel, who stresses that the penalty of non -electorality imposed on Lepen may trigger a general attack on the foundations of the French rule of law and, politically, could push Lepen’s voters to more “anti -systemic” voters. The French constitutionalist emphasizes that “in contrast to what is often said, the legal reasoning behind a court ruling can be disputed. No power, no beginning, in no democracy, is not above criticism. ” According to Morell, Lepen’s party’s president, Zordan Bardela, is not fundamentally credible for a presidential election and points out that Lepen is a personality with whom many French are identified, and especially those who belong to the working class. He concludes that “we can also imagine, in the future, Lepen at the Prime Minister’s Palace and Bardelas in the presidential.
In the newspaper The cross, Political analyst Antoine Garapon stresses that “the elected representatives are accused like everyone else” and that they cannot claim criminal immunity in the name of popular sovereignty, while in the left -wing newspaper Humanity Is it not excluded that the court’s ruling will pave the way for the “trampling” of public dialogue, at a time when we are seeing an increasing lack of confidence in the system of justice?
According to researcher Mao Fannini, this danger is real, as the far -right “is preparing to recruit the heavy artillery. From the beginning, the vocabulary used was a “attack on democracy”, “gang” … It will be interesting to see where this rhetoric will go from now on. But I don’t want to be in danger. Democracy has reaffirmed its prestige and responsibility in this case. In my opinion, it has been reinforced by this decision, which reflects what one should expect from a rule of law. “
