French Prosecutors Seek for Office Ban for Marine Le Pen
Authorities did not request that the sentence be immediately enforced regarding the misuse of EU Parliament money.
"We are going to ask you to largely uphold the criminal liability established in the initial trial, and ineligibility sentences will of course be sought," Prosecutor Thierry Ramonatxo told a Paris court.
In the original March ruling last year, Le Pen received a four-year prison sentence—two years of which were under house arrest with an electronic monitoring tag—was fined €100,000 ($118,229), and was barred from holding public office for five years, effective immediately.
Prosecutors contend that between 2004 and 2016, she coordinated a plan to use European Parliament funds to pay National Rally staff, totaling €4 million. If the appeal upholds the conviction, it would prevent her from running for president in 2027.
During the appeal hearings that began in mid-January, Le Pen denied that the party had any organized "system" to siphon European Parliament funds and asserted that the party had acted in "complete good faith."
The appeal trial is expected to conclude later this month, with a final verdict anticipated during the summer.
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