CV NEWS FEED // Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s right-wing National Rally (RN), was convicted of embezzlement and barred from seeking public office for five years by a French court Monday, derailing her bid for the 2027 presidential election.
Le Pen, France’s top conservative contender to replace President Emmanuel Macron, was found guilty of diverting European Union funds intended for parliamentary assistants to finance RN party operations.
Rodolphe Bosselut, Le Pen’s lawyer, called the ruling “a blow to democracy” and vowed to appeal. However, Le Pen remains ineligible to run during the appeals process, which could take years.
BREAKING: Marine Le Pen has been sentenced to 4 years in Jail and BANNED from holding Public Office for 5 years.
The ban disqualifies her from running in the 2027 French Presidential Election and comes into force even if she appeals.
Today is the day democracy died in France. pic.twitter.com/RIBfa2GHBN
— Cillian (@CilComLFC) March 31, 2025
Le Pen’s conviction deals a devastating setback to French conservatives, especially after September 2024 polling by Ifop showed Le Pen leading the 2027 race with 34-35% support against 13 other contenders.
With Le Pen out, her 29-year-old protégé Jordan Bardella is expected to step in as RN’s presidential candidate.
Meanwhile, European leaders, including Bardella, have rallied behind Le Pen, condemning the ruling as an assault on democracy.
“Today, it is not only Marine Le Pen who is unjustly convicted: it is French democracy that is being executed,” Bardella wrote on X in French. “I support Marine.”
Conservative lawmaker Laurent Wauquiez said the ruling placed “a very heavy weight on our democracy,” while Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed solidarity with Le Pen on X.
Even Le Pen’s political adversaries acknowledged the ruling’s severity.
Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon and centrist Prime Minister François Bayrou warned that disqualifying Le Pen from office will be perceived as undemocratic and destabilizing.
BBC’s Paris correspondent Hugh Schofield observed, “Plenty of commentators have been saying it would be a travesty of democracy if the most popular politician in the country was unable to run.”
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