Marine Le Pen, guilty of embezzling European Parliament funds

The Paris criminal court found him guilty on Monday of ) far-right leader Marine Le Pen. The sentence could affect Le Pen's political future because she could not only be sentenced to prison, but also be banned from public office for five years. In that case, the far-right leader would be barred from running in the 2027 presidential elections and would have to give up—at least in the short term—her political goal of becoming the first female president of the French Republic.

In minutes, the court will announce Le Pen's sentence. The prosecution has requested a five-year prison sentence for Marine Le Pen and a five-year ban, with immediate effect. The key is whether the court finds Le Pen guilty and decides to accept the prosecution's request to immediately impose the ban.



The far-right leader would then be barred from running in any elections, even if she decides to appeal the sentence. It is assumed that she will appeal, but a ban imposed today would likely be a fatal blow to Le Pen, who has already run for president three times. The court, however, could sentence Le Pen to prison and disqualification without immediate enforcement until the verdict is final.

The sentence would remain pending until all appeals have been exhausted. In this case, the RN leader could run in the presidential elections, because it is very unlikely that the judicial avenues will be exhausted before the spring of 2027. The question is whether the sentence will weaken or strengthen the far-right party.

The party has described the trial as political and believes that a conviction will not have a negative impact on its electorate's voting intentions. "Our voters will follow it closely, and in any case, it will not weaken us, and we will continue in the race to win the elections," RN vice president Louis Aliot said on TF1 on Monday..