Paris prosecutor seeks jail and public office ban for Marine Le Pen

Marine Le Pen arrives for the trial over the suspected embezzlement of EU funds. Photograph: Aurélien Morissard/AP

A Paris prosecutor has requested a five-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office for the far-right leader Marine Le Pen, at a trial in which she and 24 others are accused of embezzling EU funds.

The trial, which comes almost a decade after initial investigations started, threatens to undermine her National Rally (RN) party’s efforts to polish its image before the 2027 presidential election, which many believe she could win.