Sentencing of Marine Le Pen: we call for respect for the rule of law

Marine Le Pen has been found guilty of misappropriating public funds, along with eight MEPs and twelve parliamentary assistants from Rassemblement National. The illegal scheme ran from 2004 to 2016 and cost European taxpayers around €4.5 million. As a result, she has been declared ineligible to run for President until 2027. The ruling, made independently by the judiciary, must be respected. Volt France takes note of this judicial decision and warns those who are preparing to attack our country's magistrates.

The rule of law and the independence of the judiciary are founding principles of our European democracies, which they are intended to protect. Any statement by political leaders questioning the legitimacy of the judgement, discussing the political impartiality of the judges or considering this conviction to be ‘undemocratic’ would constitute a serious attack on the separation of powers.

The law applies to everyone. It is an insult to justice and to the institutions to see a person who aspires to the highest political office walk out of court, even before the sentence has been passed. It is an attitude unworthy of our French Republic and of the exemplary role that our political leaders should play, in France and in Europe.

On the contrary, we welcome the cooperation between the French and European judicial and police authorities, and in particular the work of the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), which revealed the fraudulent system set up by the RN as early as 2014.

Some French politicians and foreign powers, such as Russia, have already condemned - without irony - the verdict as a ‘violation of democratic standards’.  Volt France will be particularly vigilant against these attacks, one of whose aims is to undermine our social cohesion.

Founded in opposition to nationalism and populism, Volt will continue to defend democratic values, transparency and good governance throughout Europe.

Based on a Statement by Volt France