Marine Le Pen Statue head of rising far-right political movement In France, he was sentenced to non-custody in France and was barred from election for five years after a court found misappropriation of European Union funds.
The judge said the public office ban will take effect immediately and she will be unable to appeal, meaning Le Pen will not be able to run for the French presidency in 2027.
“In addition to the risk of re-offending, the court also considered significant interference from public order if a person has been convicted … is a candidate for the presidential election,” said a French judge from the French News Agency.
Marine Le Pen, the leader of the parliamentary group of the far-right French march party, the State (RN) party, left the Paris Courthouse after the trial on March 31, 2025. / Credit: Mustafa Yalcin/ Anadolu via Getty Images
De Perthuis also sentenced Le Pen to four years in prison, but said part of her will wear an electronic tag instead of serving her sentence in prison, and the two years of her sentence will be suspended. He also fined her more than $100,000. Both fines and prisons can be appealed.
Recent polls suggest that Le Pen is likely to win at least the first round in France’s next national election, although it’s unclear how she will perform in the second round against a more modest candidate.
European far-right politicians – including the Netherlands Geert Wilders And Italian Matteo Salvini – Condemn Monday’s verdict.
Meanwhile, in Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed that Le Pen’s sentencing proves that European countries “along the path of trampling on democratic norms.”
“Of course, we don’t want to interfere in France’s internal affairs, we never do that, it’s the internal affairs of France, but overall, our observations of the European capital show that in the political process, they simply don’t want to transcend democracy.”
Le Pen, 56, won 41% of the vote in the last French presidential election in 2022, and there is no secret about her desire to run for the highest position in the United States again.
Sitting in the front row of the Paris court, Le Pen whispered “incredible” as the judge detailed his reasons for the guilty verdict. She walked out of court even before the verdict was announced.
Le Pen, along with eight current or former members, faces up to 10 years in prison for allegations of embezzlement of public funds. More than a dozen other former parliamentary aides to the National Assembly Party, formerly the National Front, also received guilty verdicts for their role in the program.
The judge said Le Pen and her colleagues did not enrich themselves personally, but called the embezzlement of public funds a “democratic bypass” and deceived the French parliament and voters. He said Le Pen is the center of a “system” used to evacuate EU funds, aiming to pay EU parliamentary aides to pay partisans between 2004 and 2016.
Le Pen denied any misconduct, claiming that prosecutors were “only interested” in banning her from the presidential election. She told the judge in Sunday’s La Tribune Dimanche newspaper that the judge had “right to life or death.”
Le Pen may have no choice but to attribute the party’s presidential ambitions to the current President Jordan Bardella.
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