By Juliette Jabkhiro
PARIS, Jan 21 (Reuters) - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen softened her tone while answering judges’ questions during her appeal trial in Paris on Tuesday and Wednesday, but denied wrongdoing, after being barred from public office over a conviction for misusing EU funds.
Le Pen, the longtime leader of the far-right National Rally (RN), is facing a crucial appeal trial that will determine whether she can run in the 2027 presidential election, after she was given last year a five-year ban from running for public office, effective immediately.
Le Pen and others were found guilty of misappropriating more than 4 million euros ($4.7 million) of EU funds. Judges said that between 2004 and 2016, they had used funds earmarked for work at the European Parliament to pay staff who were actually working for the party.
Answering judge Michele Agi’s questions, Le Pen stuck to addressing legal arguments, in contrast with her previous approach of challenging the legitimacy of the charges. But in substance, her defence appeared to remain the same, as she denied the existence of a system within the RN to misuse EU funds.
“I formally contest the idea that there was a kind of system,” Le Pen told the court on Tuesday.
She also partly put the blame on her father, the late Jean-Marie Le Pen, saying that until 2014 he was the one really in charge. Known for his xenophobic, antisemitic and racist stance, the founder of the RN, formerly the Front National, died last year at 96.
“The way things were functioning wasn’t ideal — I’m aware of that,” she said. “But all those people were working.”
The trial is expected to last until February 12.
A ruling is expected before the summer, meaning Le Pen’s hopes of running in 2027 remain alive if her five-year ban is revoked or drastically curtailed.
If she cannot run, her protege, 30-year-old RN party president Jordan Bardella, is expected to step in.
(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro; Editing by Toby Chopra)
