France: Marine Le Pen, disqualified and convicted for embezzlement

A Paris court has convicted Marine Le Pen of misusing public funds to pay employees of her party. The sentence includes a five-year disqualification, a period that covers the upcoming presidential elections, for which the polls showed her as a favorite.

"They claim my political death," assured the deputy leader of Agrupation Nationale, who left the courtroom before the full sentence was known. The right-wing politician leads the polls for the 2027 presidential elections, with polls such as Ifop's last Sunday giving her between 34% and 37% of the vote.

The electoral participation ban is immediate and would remain in force even in case of appeal. Although she was also sentenced to four years in prison, AFP explains that Le Pen will not go to jail, with two years suspended and another two to be served with an electronic bracelet. She will also have to pay a penalty of 100,000 euros.

Le Pen was found guilty along with eight other members of her party, then called the National Front (FN). Some 25 party members were prosecuted for paying money from the European Parliament, the legislative branch of the European Union (EU), to FN employees between 2004 and 2016. The court estimated the damages at $3.13 million, less than the $4.5 million estimated by the parliament itself.

"The objective is to ensure that elected representatives, like all justiciable persons, do not benefit from preferential treatment," assured Bénédicte de Perthuis, president of the court. Le Pen herself, for the moment, has not yet commented.

The one who expressed his discontent was her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut. "It is a blow to democracy," he said, adding that he would appeal the ruling. Shortly thereafter, RN deputy Laurent Jacobelli affirmed that the now-condemned politician had "the will to fight."

Initial reactions

"Today, it is not only Marine Le Pen who is unjustly condemned: it is French democracy that is being executed," wrote RN president Jordan Bardella. Aged 29, the young politician positions himself as the main alternative to Le Pen. The Ipsos poll pointed him out as the best replacement in the eyes of voters.

From the left-wing party France Insoumise, they stated that the judicial decision proves that RN failed to live up to its motto of "head high, hands clean." "We fight them [National Rally] at the ballot box and in the streets, through the popular mobilization of the French, as we did during the 2024 legislative elections," they said. "Tomorrow, we will also defeat them at the ballot box, no matter who their candidate is."

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán posted on X a message of support identifying himself with the French politician: "I am Marine!"

From Italy, Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini also backed Le Pen, taking aim at the EU and Macron: "What is happening against Le Pen is a declaration of war from Brussels, at a time when the belligerent impulses of Von der Leyen and Macron are terrifying." "They do not intimidate us, they do not stop us: full speed ahead, my friend!"