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A Paris court has found Marine Le Pen and eight other Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) guilty of embezzling European funds to finance her National Rally (RN) and banned her from running for political office for five years — with immediate effect. According to French broadcaster BFMTV, the ruling automatically renders Le Pen ineligible to run for office in the 2027 presidential election.
Le Pen was also handed a €100,000 fine and a four-year prison sentence, with two years to be served under electronic monitoring and two years suspended.
“In concrete terms, this sentence means that Marine Le Pen remains a member of parliament but will not be able to stand for election in the next five years. This means she will not be able to run again in parliament in the event of a new dissolution or run in the 2027 presidential election,” BFMTV explained.
Jordan Bardella, leader of the National Rally (RN), denounced the court’s decision, calling it “an execution of French democracy.”
The Paris Criminal Court found that Le Pen and 24 other party members had misused funds from the European Parliament — allocated for the salaries of MEP assistants — to finance the party’s activities in France.
The defense argued that the charges stemmed from bureaucratic misinterpretations and bore no relation to corruption. Le Pen and her associates are expected to appeal the verdict.
According to the case, between 2004 and 2016, Le Pen and her allies orchestrated a scheme in which funds meant for parliamentary assistants were redirected to support the National Rally’s operations in France. The total amount embezzled was estimated at €6.8 million, as reported by Le Monde.
Le Pen maintains her innocence and claims the case is politically motivated. The RN argues that this is part of a broader campaign to discredit the party amid its rising popularity.
Despite the conviction, Le Pen continues to enjoy strong public support. A poll conducted by French opinion research institute Ifop for Journal du Dimanche shows that between 34% and 37% of voters would back her in the first round of the 2027 presidential election. Her support remains steady across different candidate matchups. For example, if former Prime Minister Édouard Philippe (21%) and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau (11%) enter the race, Le Pen secures 34% of the vote. In a scenario involving Gabriel Attal (20%) and Laurent Wauquiez (8%), her support climbs to 37%.