French court imposes jail sentence on far-right leader Marine Le Pen in EU funds embezzlement case

A French court has imposed a jail sentence on far-right leader Marine Le Pen and barred her from seeking public office after finding her guilty of embezzling European Union funds. The Paris court ruled that Ms Le Pen used more than 3.3 million dollars of European Parliament funds to pay members of her National Rally (RN) party. Currently a member of the French Parliament, Ms Le Pen was found guilty along with eight other people from her party who were Members of the European Parliament at the time. 

In sentencing, the chief judge announced that the nationalist politician, Le Pen will not be allowed to run for office for five years, effective immediately. The judge also gave Ms Le Pen a four-year prison sentence, with two years suspended and the remaining two to be



served using an electronic tag rather than in custody. She was also ordered to pay a fine of one hundred eight thousand dollars while her party National Rally was issued with a 2.16 million dollar fine. The ruling threatens to push Ms Le Pen out of the 2027 presidential race, in which, according to opinion polls, she is currently the front-runner. The nationalist leader is expected to appeal the ruling, setting the stage for a potentially lengthy legal battle.

Marine Le Pen and several RN members were accused of misusing European Parliament funds between 2004 and 2016. The case revolved around allegations that money meant for parliamentary aides was instead used to pay party staff, a violation of EU regulations.