Marine Le Pen and other right-wing French nationalists appear in court today in the opening trial against them on charges of receiving funds from the European Parliament for non-existent officials, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
In addition to the long-time leader of the far-right "National Assembly", her father Jean-Marie Le Pen - founder of the party - is also on trial. Accusations of embezzlement of public funds have been brought against a total of 28 people, DPA specifies.
Marine Le Pen has repeatedly denied the allegations, which span the period from 2004 to 2016. The accusations are aimed both at the "National Assembly" party and at individual of its employees and collaborators.
It is a matter of fictitious hiring of associates of several French MEPs, DPA explains. The main accusation is that Le Pen's party received money from the European Parliament for staff for people who actually already work for the party.
The targeted amount amounts to almost 7 million euros, DPA notes, adding that Marine Le Pen returned 330,000 euros to the EU legislature a year ago. However, her party announced that the payment of this money is not evidence of a violation.
If found guilty, the defendants could be imprisoned for up to ten years, DPA said. They could also be banned from politics for five years, which would prevent Le Pen from running in France's 2027 presidential election.