Jean-Marie Le Pen is not “fit” to be tried in the case of the assistants of RN MEPs, whose trial will begin in September

This trial primarily targets his daughter Marine, summoned to appear with 26 other people, to shed light on suspicions of embezzlement of European funds between 2004 and 2016.

The deteriorating health of Jean-Marie Le Pen, 96, is incompatible with his presence at the trial in the case of the European parliamentary assistants of the National Rally (RN), the Paris judicial court declared on Wednesday July 3. All parties agreed that the co-founder of the far-right party was not “in condition” to attend this trial, but the decision will be formalized at the opening of the hearing on September 30.

Court-appointed experts examined Jean-Marie Le Pen at his home on June 19 and could only conclude: “a profound deterioration” of his physical and mental state, reported the president of the 11th correctional chamber of the court.

“There is a physical and especially psychological alteration” of the former presidential candidate, experts observed, which makes “incompatible” his appearance in court. He is not able to attend “concentrate for more than a few minutes”, medical experts noted.

“He has no awareness of the purpose, meaning and scope of this hearing,” insisted the experts, specifying further that Jean-Marie Le Pen suffered from a “heart failure” which prevents him from leaving his home.

The trial that Jean-Marie Le Pen is expected to escape primarily targets his daughter Marine, who has been summoned to appear with 26 other people, and the RN, cited as a legal entity, to shed light on suspicions of embezzlement of European funds between 2004 and 2016.

The defendants are being prosecuted for having set up during this period a system of remuneration by the European Union of assistants of MEPs who were in reality working for the party. Marine Le Pen, who has always contested these allegations, is being targeted for misappropriation of public funds and complicity.

Other defendants include the mayor of Perpignan (Eastern Pyrenees) Louis Aliot, former Reconquête member Nicolas Bay, who has just been re-elected to the European Parliament, and RN spokesperson Julien Odoul. The trial is scheduled to last until November 27, with three hearings per week.