Marine Le Pen was convicted of embezzlement by a French court and barred from holding public office for the next five years. This is a devastating blow for Marine Le Pen’s hopes to become president and a seismic event for French politics.
Le Pen’s attorney said that she would appeal the ruling. However, she will be ineligible to run for president until she has done so. She was also sentenced to two years of house arrest.
The ruling of the court was a political and judicial temblor in France, stifling one of the top contenders for the position of President Emmanuel Macron after his final second term. The political implications were so broad that some Le Pen opponents said the Paris court went too far.
Le Pen was not present when the chief judge delivered the sentence that sent her career spiraling. She had already left the courtroom when the chief judge announced that she would be banned from office for a while, but did not specify how long.
Although Le Pen didn’t immediately comment, her supporters quickly expressed disapproval. Jordan Bardella, her 29-year-old protégé who could replace her on the ballot in 2027 if she can’t run, said on X that Le Pen “is being unjustly condemned” and that French democracy “is being executed.”
Hungary’s populist prime minister, Viktor Orbán, quickly took to social media to express his support, posting “Je suis Marine!” — I am Marine — on X.
Laurent Wauquiez is one of the conservative lawmakers who have expressed their dismay over this verdict. He said that it “put a heavy burden on our democracy.”
This sentence could prevent Le Pen’s fourth presidential run in 2027. She has described this scenario as “political suicide.” Le Pen is the most recognized leader of her party and an experienced political campaigner. In 2017 and 2022, she was second to Macron, and in recent years, her party has seen a rise in its electoral support.
She can only run if the appeals court overturns her ban from public office. The election is only two years away, and time is running out. There’s also no guarantee an appeals court will rule in her favor. In France, appeals can take years to be resolved.
Le Pen’s National Rally, formerly known as the National Front, suffered a crushing defeat.
She and 24 other officials of the party were accused of using money meant for European Union parliamentary assistants to pay instead staff who worked for their party between 2004-2016, violating the regulations of the 27-nation group.
Eight other members of Le Pen’s party, who were also former European Parliament legislators, were found guilty by the judge. Twelve people who worked as parliamentary assistants, along with three other individuals, were also convicted. One defendant was cleared. All denied any wrongdoing.
Le Pen was at the center of a “system” used by her party to siphon off EU Parliament funds. However, she did not say that they enriched themselves personally. The ruling described the embezzlement of funds as a “democratic bypass” that deceived both the parliament and the voters.
Le Pen initially showed no reaction from the front row when the judge declared her guilty. She became more agitated when the judge gave a more detailed verdict. She shook it off in disbelief when the judge said that Le Pen’s Party illegally used European Funds for its benefit.
Le Pen whispered “incredible” at one point. She left abruptly without warning, picking her bag up and walking out with her heels clicking against the hardwood floor. Many in the courtroom were in disbelief as they turned their heads to the door.
Rodolphe Bousselut, Le Pen’s lawyer, expressed his “appallement” over the decision of the court, which he called “extremely scandalous”. He said that an appeal would be filed.
Le Pen claimed that her ineligibility would “have the effect of preventing me from being a Presidential candidate” and disenfranchising her supporters during the nine-week court trial that occurred in late 2024.
“There were 11 million votes for the movement that I represent.” She told the three-judge panel, “Tomorrow millions and millions of French voters could be denied their candidate at the election.”
Le Pen is also a member of the National Assembly in France, which she can continue to do despite her ineligibility.
She would not be allowed to run if Macron dissolved parliament again, as he did the previous year, and called early legislative elections.
