French presidential candidate and far-right politician Marine Le Pen has been banned for five years from political office for stealing European Union funds.
A Paris court ruled Le Pen, her National Rally (RN) party, and more than 20 of its members guilty of misusing European Parliament funds to pay employees who were in reality working for RN in France. Nine Members of the European Parliament, including Le Pen, and 12 parliamentary assistants participated in the scheme.
Le Pen, the front-runner for France’s 2027 presidential election, was found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison, two suspended, and a €100,000 ($108,000) fine. The judge ruled that she serve her sentence under house arrest. She can appeal, but her political ban remains in place unless another court overturns the ruling.
Her party, National Rally, was also charged €2 million for its role in embezzling €4.1 million in EU funds between 11 years. The court held that Le Pen misused funds by employing four party staff, including her personal assistant and bodyguard, as European parliament assistants.
The ruling has come as a crushing blow to Le Pen’s prospects of winning the presidency in 2027, a contest to which President Emmanuel Macron is barred from contesting for the third consecutive term in office.
Chief Justice Bénédicte de Perthuis ruled that Le Pen’s conduct amounts to a “serious and lasting attack on democratic values in Europe and France,” which warranted her instant removal from office for the likely “democratic public unrest” her election would cause.
Le Pen’s political allies criticized the move as an attack on democracy. RN president Jordan Bardella claimed that “French democracy is being executed,” and her niece, European Parliament member Marion Maréchal, stated Le Pen was being punished for leading the far-right “on the path to victory.”.
The Kremlin also chimed in, contending that her conviction showed Europe’s disdain for democratic values. Even some of Macron’s former ministers were apprehensive about Le Pen losing the right to stand for office.
With Le Pen sidelined, the future of the French far-right and the 2027 presidential election has been left dangling in the air.
