French far-right's Le Pen sentenced to prison and banned from office in embezzlement trial
www.nbcnews.com
Le Pen may still appeal the four-year sentence, two years of it suspended, and five-year political ban, which came after she was found guilty of misusing $3 million to pay party staff.

Summary

A French court found far-right leader Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzling over €3 million in EU funds, potentially ending her 2027 presidential bid.

The judge ruled Le Pen and 24 others misused European Parliament funds between 2004 and 2016 to pay National Rally party staff, calling it a deliberate scheme, not an error.

Prosecutors had sought five years’ prison and a public office ban. Even with an appeal, a provisional execution could bar her candidacy.

      • FundMECFS@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        2634·
        3 days ago

        “sound” is a big word, for a justice system that perpetuates state violence and mistreats immigrants and disabled people.

        But yes, the french system is more successful at holding politicians accountable than the US.

          • JigglySackles@lemmy.worldEnglish
            143·
            3 days ago

            That’s not moving goalposts. Your original comment was stating the system was sound because the politician was convicted. The person you are replying to was refuting that based on other failures of the french court system.

            If you had instead posited “the french justice system is sound in this regard” referencing political conviction solely, then you might have ground for them ignoring the argument.

            • Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
              1·
              2 days ago

              Good point. Original Commenter (OC) is claiming a specificity after the fact when initially they were claiming a generality.

              As a reader though, OC’s meaning came across in my first reading. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

        • tatann@lemm.eeEnglish
          153·
          3 days ago

          “sound” is a big word, for a justice system that perpetuates state violence and mistreats immigrants.

          The justice system doesn’t, the police does

          • Takapapatapaka@lemmy.worldEnglish
            44·
            3 days ago

            I kinda disagree here. Ofc the police is on the front line, but the judges protect policemen and policewomen from being convicted or too harshly punished.

            More generally, it is judges who decide to send people to prison, to inflict economic and social punishments on people deviating from the state, to send refugees back to suffering or death they tried to escape from. I saw trials in France where the judges considered the fact that a militant had anarchist books in his library as aggravating circumstance. I studied law for 3 years and made internship in tribunals, and it is not a misconception to say that the judiciary system is protecting and perpetrating state violence, though it’s less bloody than what the cops can do.