Marine Le Pen Barred From French Presidential Run After Embezzlement Ruling
Marine Le Pen Barred From French Presidential Run After Embezzlement Ruling
Marine Le Pen Barred From French Presidential Run After Embezzlement Ruling
Marine Le Pen, the French far-right leader, was found guilty of embezzlement by a criminal court in Paris on Monday and immediately barred from running for public office for five years, setting off a democratic crisis in France.
The verdict effectively barred the current front-runner in the 2027 presidential election from participating in it, an extraordinary step but one the presiding judge said was necessary because nobody is entitled to “immunity in violation of the rule of law.”
An opinion poll on the presidential election published on Sunday gave Ms. Le Pen 34 to 37 percent of the vote, more than 10 points ahead of her nearest rival. President Emmanuel Macron is term-limited and cannot run again.
Ms. Le Pen has denied any wrongdoing in the case, which involved accusations that her party, the National Rally, illegally used several million euros in European Parliament funds for expenses between 2004 and 2016.
The court also sentenced Ms. Le Pen, 56, to four years in prison, with two of those years suspended. The court said the other two could be served under a form of house arrest. She was fined 100,000 euros, or about $108,000.
Ms. Le Pen’s electoral ineligibility is effective immediately. As a result, only a successful appeal before the 2027 deadline to enter the race would allow her to run.
The party used lawmaker assistants who were paid with European Parliament funds to perform tasks for the party that were unrelated to E.U. business, the court ruled.