PARIS: French prosecutors demanded on Tuesday that an appeal court maintain a five-year ban on far-right leader Marine Le Pen from holding public office for a European parliament fraud, stepping up threats to her presidential ambitions.
If the court upholds last year’s bombshell ruling by a lower tribunal, Le Pen would be banned from running in France’s 2027 presidential election, widely seen as her best chance at the top job.
The prosecution also sought a four-year prison term with three years suspended and a 100,000-euro ($118,000) fine for the figurehead leader of the National Rally (RN) party, which has been riding high in the opinion polls.
Le Pen had hoped her appeal against her ban over a fake jobs scam at the European parliament — an accusation the 57-year-old has denied — would clear the way for her to run in the election after Emmanuel Macron stands down.
But during closing arguments lasting nearly six hours, attorney general Stephane Madoz-Blanchet told the court that “Marine Le Pen was the instigator, following in her father’s footsteps, of a system that enabled the party to embezzle 1.4 million euros.”
