Marine Le Pen Barred From Office After Conviction in Embezzlement Case; 8 Others Found Guilty

Paris: A French court on Monday found Marine Le Pen and eight others guilty in an embezzlement case but did not immediately announce her sentence. As a result of the ruling, Le Pen has been barred from seeking public office, significantly affecting the political leadership of the far-right party ahead of the 2027 presidential election, AP reported.

Following this, Jordan Bardella, 29, is expected to emerge as her likely successor within the National Rally, which he formally took over in 2021.

Le Pen and her co-defendants could face up to 10 years in prison. While they have the right to appeal, doing so would result in another trial.

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The case revolves around allegations that Le Pen and 24 other National Rally members misused funds meant for European Union parliamentary aides, redirecting them to pay party staff salaries between 2004 and 2016. She and her co-defendants have consistently denied any wrongdoing.

Le Pen, 56, who was the runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 elections, has seen her party’s influence grow in recent years.

During her nine-week trial in late 2024, Le Pen argued that being ruled ineligible for office would not only strip her of the chance to run for president but also deprive millions of French voters of their preferred candidate.

“There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. So tomorrow, potentially, millions and millions of French people would see themselves deprived of their candidate in the election,” she told the panel of judges.

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Throughout the proceedings, Le Pen rejected accusations that she had orchestrated a scheme to funnel EU parliamentary funds into party expenses. She defended the practice of utilizing aides paid by the European Parliament for political work, insisting it was a legitimate adaptation of their roles. At the time of the alleged offenses, her party was known as the National Front.

Court hearings revealed that some EU funds were used to pay for Le Pen’s assistant and her bodyguard, who had previously worked for her father.

Prosecutors had sought a two-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from public office.

After the verdict, Le Pen claimed that authorities were “only interested” in preventing her from running in the presidential race.