Key Points
- A French court found Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzlement.
- The far-right leader has been barred from running in the 2027 presidential elections.
- Le Pen says ruling was aimed at blocking her from the presidential bid.
A French court has barred French far-right leader Marine Le Pen from running in the 2027 presidential election after she was convicted of embezzlement, in a ruling that could fuel global tensions over judicial efforts to police politics.
The French court's ruling overnight was a catastrophic setback for Le Pen, 56.
The National Rally party chief is one of the most prominent figures of the European far right and a front-runner in polls for France's 2027 contest.
The ruling could have wide-ranging repercussions on French politics, upending the race to succeed President Emmanuel Macron and placing additional pressure on his weak minority government weakened after months of consecutive crises.
It is also likely to exacerbate growing global anger among right-wing leaders over unelected judges meddling in their mandates.
In a prime time TV interview on TF1, Le Pen said she was innocent and would appeal as soon as possible against what she described as a politicised ruling aimed at blocking her presidential bid.
She said she was out of the running for 2027 but would continue to fight for her future.
"Tonight, there are millions of French people who are outraged, outraged to an unimaginable degree, seeing that in France, in the country of human rights, judges have implemented practices that we thought were reserved for authoritarian regimes," she said.
Le Pen's five-year public office ban cannot be suspended by appeal, although she will retain her parliamentary seat until her term ends.
She also received a four-year prison sentence — two years of which are suspended and two years to be served under home detention and a 100,000-euro fine — but they will not apply until her appeals are exhausted.
Billionaire Elon Musk, who has led calls to impeach United States judges blocking President Donald Trump's agenda while also lending his support to European far-right figures, alleged an establishment plot behind Le Pen's ban on running in the election.
Judge Benedicte de Perthuis said Le Pen had been "at the heart" of a scheme to misappropriate more than 4 million euros of EU funds and use them to pay the far-right party's staff back home.
The lack of remorse by Le Pen and other defendants was among the reasons that prompted the court to ban them from running for office with immediate effect, de Perthuis said.
Le Pen's allies, as well as far-right leaders from Europe and around the world, condemned the ruling as judicial overreach.
France's high council of the judiciary expressed its concern over what it called "virulent reactions" provoked by the ruling.
Le Pen has run three times for president and had said 2027 would be her final run for top office.
Her hopes now lie in overturning the ruling at an appeal before the election.
There have been instances of immediate political bans in France since the passage of toughened anti-corruption laws in 2016, but Le Pen supporters accused judges of policing politics.
The RN and two dozen party figures were also found guilty of diverting European parliament funds.
The party was ordered to pay a €2 million ($3.5 million) fine, with half the amount suspended.
