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 that in the judgment, the injunction of public office will take effect immediately.
“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.
De Perthuis also sentenced Le Pen to four years in prison, but said part of her would be arrested, wearing an electronic tag instead of being in prison. The judge suspended two years of imprisonment for four years. He also fined her more than $100,000.
Le Pen said in her first reaction to the verdict on French TV channel TF1 that she would appeal, calling the ruling a “political” move intended to stop her from running for the 2027 presidential election.
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
She said the court should not make her ineligible for office unless all her chances of appeal were exhausted.
“If it wasn’t a political decision, I wouldn’t know what it was,” she said.
Le Pen will still not be eligible for a candidate until the appeal is decided, but will be arrested and fined during the appeal process.
Le Pen said she would ask the court lawsuit to take place ahead of the 2027 campaign. Only an appeal ruling that overturns the injunction on public office can restore her running hopes. However, there is no guarantee that the Court of Appeal will make a more favorable ruling, and it may take years for a French appeal to come to a conclusion.
Rodolphe Bosselut, Le Pen’s lawyer, said he was “shocked” by the court’s ruling, calling it “extremely scandal.” He also vowed to appeal against the guilty sentence.
Recent polls suggest that Le Pen could 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 – decisively defeated by incumbent President Emmanuel Macron – without any hiding 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 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 was the center of the “system” used to pay EU funds from EU parliamentary aides, but instead paid to parties 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.
Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this story misrepresented the appeal process. Le Pen said she would appeal.
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