Marine Le Pen sentenced: Eric Ciotti fails to ban provisional execution of ineligibility sentences

The Assembly opposed on Thursday the proposal of the Ciottist deputies to prohibit the immediate execution of ineligibility sentences , the left and the central bloc denouncing a law tailored for Marine Le Pen , who appealed against her conviction in the case of the assistants of FN MEPs .

"Certain inviolable principles of our criminal law are flouted by provisional execution: the suspensive effect of appeals" and "the presumption of innocence," argued rapporteur Brigitte Barèges (UDR). It "deprives citizens of the right to freely choose their representatives," added Bruno Bilde (RN).

Minister of Justice Gérald Darmanin opposed the bill. Provisional execution "is not automatic (nor) a deviation," he argued. "We don't change the rules of the law during the trial," he added, referring to Marine Le Pen, who was not present.

The single article was deleted by 185 votes to 120, before the UDR withdrew the text. The Left, Renaissance, and MoDem overwhelmingly voted for its deletion, while Horizons was split between opponents of the text and abstentions. The two participating LR deputies voted, like the RN and the UDR, for the measure.

Marine Le Pen was sentenced on March 31 to five years of immediate ineligibility, a sentence that prevents her from running in the next presidential election. She is contesting the sentence on the merits and has appealed. A decision in this new trial is expected in the summer of 2026.

The court found that she was at the "heart" of a scheme to embezzle public funds to pay party employees with European Parliament money. The total amount of the embezzlement was €4.4 million.

"It is not justice that threatens the Republic, it is the Republic when it turns against itself, as you are trying to do this morning, that threatens justice," also declared Boris Vallaud, president of the Socialist Party group.

The debates became very tense between the left and the central bloc on one side, and the RN-UDR alliance on the other, with an avalanche of invectives and reminders of the rules.

A heated exchange of words took place between environmentalist Emmanuel Duplessy and Eric Ciotti. The former recalled a Mediapart article stating that the UDR leader's mother had been in a hospital "reserved for short-term care" for over 18 years. "This has reached the height of indignity (...) my mother is quadriplegic," Eric Ciotti protested in response.