A Paris court has ruled that National Front founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen will not be called to give tesitmony in a case regarding the payment of European parliamentary assistants working for the National Rally, due to his deteriorating health.
The Paris judicial court said on Wednesday that the deteriorating state of health of 96-year-old Jean-Marie Le Pen is “incompatible” with his presence at a trial involving parliamentary assistants working for the National Rally (RN) at the EU parliament.
All parties agreed that the co-founder of the far-right National Front – the pre-cursor of the rebranded National Rally – was “unfit” to attend the trial, but the decision will be formalised when the hearing opens on 30 September.
Experts appointed by the court examined Le Pen at his home on 19 June and could only note “a profound deterioration” in his physical and mental state.
The experts observed that the former presidential candidate had “deteriorated physically and above all psychologically”, making it “incompatible” for him to appear in court.
Jean-Marie Le Pen is unable to “concentrate for more than a few minutes”, the medical experts noted.
Marine Le Pen – who has always denied these allegations – is charged with misappropriation of public funds and complicity.
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