French prosecutors seek to lift Le Pen immunity over expenses probe
Source: RFI
French prosecutors have asked the European parliament to lift the immunity of far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen over an expenses scandal, deepening her legal woes on the eve of the election, legal sources said on Friday. The move comes just nine days before France heads to the polls for a highly unpredictable vote with Le Pen, who heads the Eurosceptic National Front (FN), one of the frontrunners in the 23 April first round.
The request was made at the end of last month after Le Pen, who is a member of the European Parliament, invoked her parliamentary immunity in refusing to attend questioning by investigating magistrates.The prosecutors also made a similar request regarding another MEP from Le Pen's party, Marie-Christine Boutonnet, who also avoided questioning.
Le Pen, who has denied misusing parliamentary funds, shrugged off the move, saying it was "normal". "It's totally normal procedure, I'm not surprised," she told France Info radio. The case was triggered by a complaint from the European Parliament, which accuses the FN of defrauding it to the tune of some 340,000 euros.
Read more: http://en.rfi.fr/france/20170414-french-prosecutors-seek-lift-le-pen-immunity-over-expenses-probe
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