Police Raid on French Right-Wing National Assembly Headquarters
The National Assembly headquarters of France’s right-wing party was raided on Wednesday morning in what its leader has described as a “magnificent and unprecedented” attack. Since around 8:50 AM, approximately 20 police officers from the financial brigade, equipped with weapons and bulletproof vests, conducted searches, including in the leader’s office.
The leader expressed that this operation represents a new level of harassment, calling it a serious infringement on pluralism and democratic change. He stated, “The opposition has never faced such relentless attacks during the Fifth Republic.”
According to the Associated Press, prosecutors are probing allegations related to Marine Le Pen’s 2022 presidential campaign and claims of illegal funding concerning her party’s European Parliament and legislative campaigns.
Le Pen has faced accusations of misappropriating public funds. Despite the seizure of numerous emails, documents, and accounting records from major opposition parties, the specific complaints behind this action remain unclear. Valdera mentioned that files concerning recent regional, presidential, legislative, and European campaigns have been handed over to judicial authorities.
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office announced that the search also extended to unknown businesses and the residences of certain individuals linked to those businesses. This investigation, which began a year ago, addresses various allegations, including fraud, money laundering, and forgery.
The inquiry aims to ascertain if Le Pen’s 2022 presidential campaign and related party endeavors were financed via illegal loans from individuals supporting party or national assembly candidates.
There are also investigations into whether the national assembly was overcharged for services or charged for nonexistent services, which could have artificially inflated state aid for election campaigns.
Authorities had previously raided the Nationalist Party’s headquarters in 2022, following Le Pen’s conviction related to embezzlement. She, alongside 24 other officials, was accused of diverting EU funds originally intended for parliamentary aides to pay party staff from 2004 to 2016, which violated EU regulations.
As of now, the prosecutor’s office has not filed charges in this latest case.
