Le Pen claims innocence in fake EU jobs trial

PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen, charged with embezzling European Parliament funds, told a court on Monday that she was innocent as she was questioned for the first time in the trial that could thwart her presidential ambitions.
Le Pen and several other National Rally (RN) party chiefs are accused of embezzling European Parliament money by creating fake jobs. Possible sanctions include jail as well as a decade-long ban from public office, which could wreck Le Pen’s hopes of succeeding President Emmanuel Macron in a 2027 election.
Le Pen had already addressed the trial since it opened on Sept 30, but had not previously been subjected to direct questioning.
“I have absolutely no sense of having committed the slightest irregularity, or the slightest illegal act,” Le Pen, 56, told the court on Monday. But when questioned about how she exactly selected her presumed parliamentary aides, and what their tasks were, she gave general answers, or said she could not remember. “It was 20 years ago,” she said. She said about the European Parliament that it is a “blob that gobbles up everything”.
Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2024