The prosecution has asked the Paris Court of Appeals to confirm Marine Le Pen's "criminal liability" and her five-year sentence of "ineligibility" for public office for embezzlement of funds during her time as a Member of the European Parliament for the National Front (renamed as the National Rally).
The far-right leader implicitly acknowledged her pessimism regarding the prosecution's recommendations halfway through the hearings that began on January 13 and will continue until February 12 at the Court of Appeals. Le Pen filed an appeal to try to overturn the sentence issued in March 2025, which interferes with her plans to run in the 2027 presidential elections.
The National Rally leader denied deliberately diverting European funds for party staff and expressed her desire to "be understood by the court". The reinforcement of her legal team, with lawyer Sandra Chirac-Kollaric, and the change in strategy, abandoning the argument that she is a victim of "a political process" and acknowledging that she may have committed an infraction but not "a crime," does not seem to have yielded results so far.
Her last hopes are now on the second part of the appeal process, with the presentation of her defense arguments starting on Wednesday. Nevertheless, concerns are growing within her circle about the Court of Appeals' ruling that will be issued in the next four months, which will limit the National Rally's maneuvering capacity for the presidential elections in any case.
Despite her legal issues, Le Pen has remained very active in recent weeks, supporting RN candidates for the municipal elections on March 15, especially the mayoral candidate for Marseille, Franck Allisio, who has the potential to win the second-largest French city for the far-right.
Rumors of a possible political announcement by Le Pen this week gained strength; however, in recent days, coinciding with the increasingly ubiquitous presence of her "protégé" Jordan Bardella, 30 years old, currently considered the most highly rated politician in France, with a more moderate perception than his mentor and ahead of her in the polls.
Jordan Bardella has appeared in the past week alongside Marion Maréchal during the presentation of the book 'If You Feel Le Pen'. Marion, a Member of the European Parliament for the Reconquest party and Marine Le Pen's niece, has fueled speculation about a possible alliance of right-wing parties for the presidential elections under Bardella's "Plan B" umbrella.