Marine Le Pen: justice or lawfare?

Coffee House Shots

The Spectator

News, Politics, Government, Daily News

4.4 • 2.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 April 2025

⏱️ 14 minutes

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Summary

Marine Le Pen, president of Rassemblement National (National Rally) was found guilty this week of embezzling EU funds to boost her party’s finances. The guilty verdict was widely expected, however her sentence was far harsher than even her strongest critics expected – part of which saw her banned from standing for office for five years, with immediate effect. Le Pen had been the favourite to win the next French presidential election in 2027.

Pursuing Donald Trump through the courts was widely seen as backfiring as he went on to win the presidential election, and many have argued that there is a double standard with many more figures and parties facing investigation from the right than from the left. Is this a case of justice served, or another example of creeping lawfare across the West? Deputy political editor James Heale discusses with our deputy editor Freddy Gray and French journalist and writer Anne-Elisabeth Moutet.

Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Transcript

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0:51.5	Hello and welcome to this special Saturday edition of Coffee House Shots. I'm James Hill and delighted to be joined today by our deputy editor, Freddie Gray, and French journalist and writer Anne Elizabeth Mute. Now, Annalizabeth, it's been five days since the ruling on Monday that Marina Penn will be banned for standing for the next five years. I mean, QS says the reaction, first of all, in France that's occurred over the past week.
1:13.0	What's interesting is the complete sort of difference between on one side people who think
1:20.2	that she deserved it, she's guilty as hell, which she is. This is the law. It was passed
1:25.8	about 10 years ago the conditions in which she has to
1:30.8	suffer to be to be ineligible, even though she's appealing. And another half, and it's about
1:38.3	40% who believe that the fix is in and that it's a legal trick to prevent her from running. And it is almost impossible
1:48.5	to get one side to understand the other. And they both have points. So you try and say, look,
1:54.3	there is such a thing in the French constitution that says that you must not prevent the people from choosing the candidates they want to vote for,
2:04.3	which is important that has been called in by constitutionalists.
2:08.2	And the other says she is guilty.
2:10.3	The law was voted in two instances, and the last time was something like 10 years ago,
2:15.8	Lois Sapan 1 and 2.
2:19.2	And she knew perfectly well that she was willfully using European Parliament salaries to make her party essentially
2:26.6	sort of richer because they, like most French political parties, are extremely poor.
	...

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