A Paris court ruled Monday that National Rally leader Marine Le Pen will be ineligible to run for public office for five years, likely including in the upcoming presidential race, after being found guilty of embezzlement of European Union funds.
A “political death sentence” has been handed out to three-time presidential candidate and current frontrunner in the race to replace President Emmanuel Macron in 2027, Marine Le Pen.
The Paris court found that Le Pen, along with eight other National Rally Members of the European Parliament, had embezzled 2.9 million euros in funds intended for parliamentary assistants for the party in Strasbourg on political operations in France. The court’s president found Le Pen personally guilty of embezzling 474,000 euros, Le Monde reported.
Le Figaro reports that she was sentenced to four years imprisonment, which will likely be served on probation with an electronic tag rather than in jail, a fine of 100,000 euros, and five years of ineligibility from running for public office.
Without waiting to hear the details of her sentence, Le Pen stormed out of the courtroom “visibly exasperated” and returned to her National Rally party headquarters in Paris.
Speaking last week ahead of the ruling, the National Rally leader said: “I consider myself completely innocent of the facts with which I am accused. Therefore, if my guilt is pronounced, I will use the rule of law to be able to defend my innocence again.”
However, the court on Monday ruled that the ineligibility to run for public office should come into effect “immediately.” This means that even if Le Pen were to appeal the decision, the ban would remain in place during the appeal process. Appeals of such sort typically take at least a year, so it is technically possible for the ruling to be overturned before the election occurs in 2027.
Should the appeal fail, or indeed the process extend beyond the vote, it would mean that, for the first time since 1981, Le Pen would not be running in a French presidential election.
Political allies have decried the ruling, accusing the court of interfering in the French democratic process and depriving citizens of the right to choose their own leader.
The former leader of the Republicains, who sided with Le Pen’s party in last year’s legislative elections, Eric Ciotti said that “the democratic destiny of our nation confiscated by an unworthy judicial cabal.”
“This is not a simple malfunction, it is a system of power capture that systematically excludes any candidate too far to the right who is capable of winning.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whose party sits in coalition with Le Pen’s National Rally in the European Parliament, said in a statement of solidarity: “I am Marine!” in a reference to the ‘Je Suis Charlie’ slogan following the terror attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Italian Deputy PM and longtime ally Matteo Salvini said: “Those who fear the judgment of voters often seek reassurance from the courts. In Paris, they have condemned Marine Le Pen and would like to remove her from political life. A bad situation that is also being observed in other countries such as Romania.
“What is happening against Marine Le Pen is a declaration of war from Brussels, at a time when the belligerent impulses of Von der Leyen and Macron are terrifying. We are not intimidated, we are not stopped: full speed ahead, my friend!”
Le Pen’s deputy and likely successor, Jordan Bardella, said: “Today, it is not only Marine Le Pen who is being unjustly condemned: it is French democracy that is being executed.”
According to a recent survey from Ifop, Le Pen is the clear frontrunner in the upcoming 2027 presidential election in France. Depending on potential opponents, she recorded between 34 and 37 per cent support. In comparison, her closest rival, Le Harve Mayor Édouard Philippe, only recorded 21 per cent support.
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