French Far-Right Leader Marine Le Pen Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Embezzlement and Five-Year Ban on Holding Office, Ruling Out 2027 Presidential Run

variety.com:

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Marine Le Pen, the well-known French far-right leader who ran for president three times and faced off Emmanuel Macron in the second round of the 2022 presidential election with an unprecedented score for her Rassemblement National (National Rally) party, has been barred from running for office for the next five years by a French criminal court on Monday.

Prosecuted for embezzlement of public funds and complicity in the embezzlement of public funds, Le Pen was also sentenced to four years in prison, including two years during which she will be forced to wear an electronic bracelet.

She’s also received a fine of 100,000 euros. Le Pen, who is the president of the Rassemblement National deputies in the National Assembly, had vowed to thrive in the 2027 race.

As a result of the sentence, she won’t be allowed to run in neither the presidential nor the legislative elections. Le Pen has been accused of having hired four “fictitious” assistants when was a member of European Parliament from 2004 to 2017 who allegedly worked for the Front National (which was rebranded as Rassemblement National in 2018).