State prosecutors countered that Le Pen was at the center of a thought-out, centralized, and almost industrial system to embezzle funds.
They stated that taxpayer money allocated for assistants in Strasbourg or Brussels was siphoned by the Front National party to pay workers in France.
The staff in France had no connection to European Parliament operations, creating an estimated loss to European funds of €4.8m (£4.2m).
State prosecutor Thierry Ramonatxo criticized Le Pen for her public attacks on the judiciary, following her previous claims of a tyranny of judges.
Ramonatxo stated that judges simply apply the law voted for by parliament and criticized her choice to attack judges on the political stage.
“Speaking of a ‘tyranny of judges’, of a ‘violation of the state of law’ or of ‘political assassination’ is not part of the judicial debate in a democratic society.
It is not part of a debate of ideas but rather is aimed at discrediting all judicial actions in their entirety,” Ramonatxo said.
Ramonatxo added that her choices were dangerous and had exposed judges to death threats due to the political nature of the attacks.
At the original trial, 24 party members were convicted, and Le Pen appealed alongside 10 others, prompting reactions from the international populist right.
Le Pen previously expressed her view on the judicial situation to La Tribune Dimanche following the initial trial results.
“There was a time when you could take a bullet. Now you can take a judicial bullet.
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In reality, that means your death,” Le Pen said.
