Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader who had emerged as the frontrunner in France's 2027 presidential race, was convicted Monday of embezzling European Union funds, handed a four-year prison sentence with two years suspended, and barred from holding public office for five years-a ruling that has thrown French politics into turmoil and triggered international reaction.
The Paris court found Le Pen guilty of misusing more than €4 million over an 11-year period by paying party staff with European Parliament funds intended for legislative assistants. Judge Bénédicte de Perthuis said the scheme represented a "serious and lasting attack on the rules of democratic life in Europe, but especially in France." The court also fined Le Pen €100,000 and sentenced her to house arrest.
De Perthuis said the court weighed two significant risks: the election of a convicted individual to high office and "major risk to public order" if a likely presidential candidate was banned. The judge stated that the ruling was made "in the name of the French people," emphasizing the need to maintain social consensus.
Le Pen, 56, left the courtroom before the full sentencing was read and refused to answer questions from reporters upon arrival at her party's headquarters. The National Rally (RN), which she once led and transformed from a fringe movement into a major political force, was fined €2 million. Nine Members of the European Parliament and 12 assistants were convicted alongside her.
Delivering the verdict, the court said investigations had shown that Le Pen "had been at the heart of the scheme." The judge noted: "These were not administrative errors... but embezzlement within the framework of a system put in place to reduce the party's costs."
While Le Pen can appeal the conviction, the court's ban on her running for office remains in place unless overturned. A final ruling from France's Constitutional Council is expected Friday on whether the provisional execution of the political ban is constitutional.
Le Pen's political allies denounced the judgment as politically motivated. It was not only Marine Le Pen "who is being unjustly condemned: it is French democracy that is being executed," said RN President Jordan Bardella. Marion Maréchal, Le Pen's niece and an MEP with a rival far-right party, said her aunt's "only guilt" was "leading our side on the path to victory."
The ruling prompted international responses from far-right leaders across Europe. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban posted on X: "Je suis Marine." Italy's Matteo Salvini called the decision "a declaration of war by Brussels." Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, "European capitals show that they are not at all reluctant to go beyond democracy during the political process."
French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin previously commented on the case in November, calling it "profoundly shocking" that Le Pen could be barred from office. Former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was convicted in 2021 on corruption charges, has also faced legal trouble but did not serve jail time, wearing an electronic ankle bracelet instead.
The decision comes after nearly a decade of investigation into the misuse of EU funds. The nine-week trial began in November and included 24 other individuals tied to RN. Prosecutors had originally sought a five-year prison sentence and €300,000 fine for Le Pen. Ultimately, the court issued a more moderate penalty but imposed an immediate political ban.
The fallout is likely to reshape the 2027 race. Polls earlier this year showed Le Pen as the likely winner of the first round, with nearly 42% support. President Emmanuel Macron is constitutionally barred from running for a third consecutive term, leaving the field open for Le Pen's challenge-until now.
Le Pen, who has previously likened her legal troubles to a "witch hunt," said over the weekend that she expected leniency. "With provisional execution, the judges have the power of life or death over our movement... but I don't think they'll go that far," she told La Tribune Dimanche.
RN, which secured the largest number of votes in the first round of last year's parliamentary elections but failed to win a majority, now faces an uncertain future. Bardella, 29, is expected to take the political reins, though he remains untested in national elections.
