Marine Le Pen barred from presidential race for 5 years, sentenced to prison
Marine Le Pen will not be able to run in the 2027 presidential elections, and faces a four-year prison sentence, two of which are to be served in house arrest
The court found Marine Le Pen and eight MEPs from the National Rally guilty of embezzlement of public funds on Monday, as part of the case into parliamentary assistants from the far right National Front party. Marine Le Pen is sentenced to four years in prison, two of which are suspended in house arrest, and to five years of ineligibility for office with immediate effect.
The verdict was announced in her absence after she loudly left the courtroom before the verdict. According to the court, the founder of the National Rally cannot run in the presidential election scheduled for 2027. She will have to wear an electronic bracelet for the duraton of her house arrest. In addition, she must pay a fine of 100,000 euros $108,000).
"Today, it's not only Marine Le Pen who is unfairly condemned: it's French democracy that is being executed," said Jordan Bardella, the president of the National Rally party.
"The democratic destiny of our nation was confiscated by a shameful judicial cabal. The favorite candidate in the presidential election prevented from running," Eric Ciotti reacted in turn.
Earlier, former Le Pen partner and Perpignan mayor Louis Aliot was sentenced to eighteen months in prison, twelve of which were suspended. He will also need to serve under electronic monitoring. His disqualification will go on for three years, but without giving up his mandate as mayor of Perpignan, a city near the Spanish border.