Protests Against Le Pen & EU Report Accuses Her of Fraud

Simultaneously with the protests that swept French cities against Marine Le Pen and her party, the far-right candidate for the French presidential elections, along with figures close to her, have been accused of embezzling about 600,000 euros of European public funds during their tenure in the European Parliament.

The European Anti-fraud Office, in a new report published by the French media website Mediapart, on April 16, accused the Far-right French presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, her father and figures close to her of Fraud.

From its side, Agence France-Presse revealed that French prosecutors announced that they had received a report on March 11  from the European Anti-fraud Office, accusing Marine Le Pen and her associates of embezzling about 600,000 euros in European public funds from 2004 to 2017 when she was a member of the European Parliament. Le Pen’s lawyer denied that, noting that his client had not committed any legal violations.

The new report by the European Anti-fraud Office, relates to fees that members of political groups can use in the framework of their mandate as MEPs and that Marine Le Pen and her associates may have used for national political purposes or for personal expenses or other services.

 

Embezzlement Accusations

In an interview with Al-Estiklal, the political analyst, the expert on international relations and the Human Right activist in France Smail Khalafallah said: “The strength of the new report accusing Le Pen lies in the fact that it will destabilize Le Pen's political standing days before the presidential elections. It will shake confidence in its project.”

The political analyst added: “Le Pen claims that her program serves the workers and low-income groups, while the report exposes her embezzlement of public funds. However, it is noteworthy the claims have not been definitively proven, but it was presented to the French judiciary, who will confirm its validity.”

From another side, Le Pen's lawyer, Rodolphe Busslow, told AFP he was "surprised" at the timing and the "exploitation" of the report.

He stressed that he was "dissatisfied with the way in which" the European Anti-fraud Office behaves, stressing that part of the report relates to "old facts that are more than ten years old."

He added that Le Pen "has not been summoned by any French judicial authority," criticizing the failure to send the final report to him or Le Pen.

According to him, the European Anti-fraud Office investigation has been open since 2016 and Le Pen was questioned by mail in March 2021.

 

Protests Sweeping France

Less than a week before the presidential elections, more than 50 French cities, including the capital, Paris, witnessed demonstrations against Le Pen and the extreme right.

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the Place de la Nation in central Paris, at the invitation of a large number of unions, and marched to the Republic Square in the city. The demonstrators demanded not to vote for Le Pen in the second round of the presidential elections scheduled for April 24.

Protesters held anti-far-right banners and chanted slogans denouncing both Macron and his rival, Le Pen. Among the most prominent cities that witnessed the demonstrations, Nantes, Rennes, Lille, Lyon, Strasbourg and Marseille.

The French Ministry of the Interior estimated that 22,000 people participated in the demonstrations, 9,200 of them in Paris.

A report issued by Al-Estiklal on 19 April stated that demonstrations roamed various French cities against Le Pen. More than 70 professional organizations and unions called for the demonstrations that took place on Sunday in various French cities.

It quoted the political expert Smail Khalafallah emphasizing that Le Pen’s ideology threatens the values of France. The extreme right and its leader Le Pen are violating the crucial elements of French democracy. Equality, fraternity and the values ​​of social justice on which the French state is based are at stake today. Right-wing programs eliminate these values ​​completely.

 

Changing Her Stances

Surprisingly during the last week of the French presidential elections, right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen has changed her position on the issue of the headscarf and its ban in public places.

Le Pen's spokesman, Sebastien Schön, said that if Le Pen is elected, "She will instruct Parliament to determine the details of this issue," adding that the Parliament is the one who will look into the issue of banning the veil, and offer practical solutions so that, for example, a woman in her seventies who has been wearing the veil for years is not affected by this measure.”

Le Pen's change of position came one week before the second round of the elections, where she faces outgoing President Emmanuel Macron on April 24.

Le Pen had said on Saturday 16 April that the headscarf is a "complex problem", but in return she confirmed that she is not "narrow-minded" and that this controversial draft ban will be put up for discussion in the National Assembly.

The issue of the veil has taken a great deal of controversy between her and Macron, who seeks to win the votes of Muslims, whose number is about 5 million people. They make up 9% of the population. In the first round of the elections, 69% of Muslim voters chose left-wing candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who came third in the first round, according to a poll conducted by the IFOP Center.

The French website Mediapart said that the program of Marine Le Pen, the far-right candidate for the French presidency, comprises astonishing measures to suppress Muslims under the guise of fighting so-called "Islamism."

The writer tried to answer the question “What would the lives of millions of Muslims look like if Marine Le Pen arrived at the Elysee? Will it be a nightmare?” He emphasized that the far-right party for half a century has been frightening people with a bogeyman called the tyranny of foreigners and "Mohammedans" over France.