Marine Le Pen, the French far-right leader, was found guilty of embezzlement yesterday and disqualified from running for public office for five years.
The verdict could lead to new political turmoil. It effectively knocked Le Pen — France’s most popular politician, according to the polls — out of the 2027 presidential election.
The decision infuriated Le Pen, an anti-immigrant, nationalist politician who has mounted three failed presidential bids. She called the ruling a “political” attempt to thwart her and vowed to fight back, though her chances of legal success are slim. “I’m not going to submit to a democratic denial so easily,” she said angrily.
The court ruled that Le Pen had played a “central role” in an illegal scheme to use millions of euros in European Parliament funds for party expenses from 2004 to 2016. Le Pen was a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017.
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