The former leader of the far right in France, 95-year-old Jean-Marie Le Pen, has been placed “under judicial protection”. This was announced by the vice-chairman of the far-right RN (Rassemblement National) party, Louis Aliot. This means that Le Pen may not be able to participate in his trial, which starts in the autumn.
Le Pen’s lawyer, François Wagner, confirmed that he was given a mandate for future protection in mid-February. The measure is comparable to a guardianship and comes at the request of the family after it has been medically determined that the 95-year-old Le Pen is incapacitated. His three daughters, Marie-Caroline, Yann and Marine, are his representative. This allows them to perform various actions in their father’s name, alone or in consultation.
According to several people close to him, Father Le Pen’s health has deteriorated significantly since he suffered a heart attack in April 2023.
The question is what exactly this protection means for the trial against Le Pen that will start in the autumn. He is suspected, together with his daughter Marine, the mayor of Perpignan Louis Aliot and the party’s former number two, Bruno Gollnisch, of using European Union funds between 2004 and 2016 to pay for assistants who in reality worked for the party worked.
According to Le Pen’s lawyer, this protection measure is not a tactic to prevent him from having to appear in the case. “He is an elderly man who is tired. He is now under legal protection and his children are involved in managing his affairs. I think the court will have to decide whether he can neither be present nor testify in this trial,” RN chairman Aliot told French channel RMC-BFMTV.
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