A French court on Monday convicted far-right leader Marine Le Pen, her National Rally (RN) party, and more than 20 of its members for diverting European Parliament funds to pay staff who were actually working for the party in France.
The ruling found nine members of the European Parliament, including Le Pen, and 12 parliamentary assistants guilty of misusing EU funds.
As part of the verdict, Le Pen was barred from holding political office for five years, effectively preventing her from running in France’s 2027 presidential election. She was also sentenced to four years in prison, with two years suspended—to be served under house arrest. Additionally, she was fined 100,000 euros ($108,118).
The court ordered RN to pay a 2 million euro ($2.16 million) fine for its role in embezzling 4.1 million euros in EU funds.
“Today it is not only Marine Le Pen who was unjustly condemned: it was French democracy that was killed,” the National Rally president, Jordan Bardella, commented on his X.
Bardella and the party urged Le Pen’s supporters to sign a petition backing her and called for a “peaceful mobilization” to defend her and help her run for president despite the ruling. Her lawyer, Rodolphe Bosselut, said she would appeal the conviction.
