Marine Le Pen pleads guilty to “EU fundsex1>

Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far right-wing <x0th).

Le Pen and 24 other National Rally colleagues have been charged with embezzlement of money destined for European Parliament aides to pay staff working for the party over a four-year period, foreign media write, Telegrafi reports Periscope.

After the trial ended in November, the state prosecutor sought guilty verdicts for Le Pen and her co-independents, who have denied any wrongdoing.

The prosecutor also demanded that Le Pen be fined 300 thousand euros, suffer up to 10 years in prison and, most importantly, be prevented from running for public office with immediate effect for five years if convicted.

The three judges were not obliged to follow the prosecutor's recommendations.

However, a verdict as guilty for Le Pen could prevent him from running in the 2027 presidential race in what she described as the <x0 political death>”.

She denied allegations that she was at the helm of a “system, which aimed to raise EU parliament's money to benefit her party, arguing instead that it was acceptable to adapt the work of parliamentary aides to the needs of its party lawmakers.

While testifying, Le Pen told the court: “I absolutely don't feel that I have committed the slightest irregularities, the smallest illegal movement”.