July 7 (Reuters) – A Paris appeals court on Tuesday upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misusing EU funds while shortening her ban on running for elected office, potentially allowing the National Rally (RN) leader to contest the French presidency in 2027.
The court ruled Le Pen would serve a three-year jail term, two years of which were suspended, and ordered her to wear an electronic ankle tag for one year.
Le Pen’s presidential ambitions had been on hold since March 2025, when she received a five-year ban from public office and a four-year prison sentence after being convicted of embezzling more than 4 million euros ($4.6 million) from the European Parliament.
She was found guilty of participating in a scheme that misappropriated EU funds intended for parliamentary assistants and used them to pay RN staff.
She denied guilt and appealed.
Following are reactions to the ruling:
RODOLPHE BOSSELUT, LE PEN’S LAWYER
“We are considering the decision as a whole, we will issue a further statement. We are partially satisfied.”
MARINE TONDELIER, GREENS LEADER
“Contrary to what the RN has been shouting for years, there is therefore no judicial conspiracy. One could even say that she has benefited from great leniency … In a normal world where the RN had even the slightest shred of morality, she would step down from running herself. Because one cannot decently stand for election after having been convicted in this way for misappropriating public funds, even if one remains eligible.”
FRANCOIS RUFFIN, LEFT-WING DEPUTY
“The very fact that it even crosses our minds that Marine Le Pen might campaign whilst wearing an electronic tag is a sign that corruption is accepted in our country,” he told reporters.
CLEMENTINE AUTAIN, LEFT-WING DEPUTY
“Whilst the RN blames immigrants for all society’s ills and dreams of imposing ever-harsher penalties for petty crime, it is fleecing taxpayers… The RN leader has vowed that she will not be able to campaign under these conditions. Will she keep her word?”
BENJAMIN LUCAS-LUNDY, COORDINATOR OF LEFT-WING GENERATION.S
“She has been found guilty by the courts of theft… I don’t think she should even be sitting as a Member of Parliament here in the National Assembly any longer.”
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(Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega, Mathias de Rozario and Hugo Lhomedet; Editing by Matt Scuffham)
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