Le Pen’s presidential hopes hit by guilty verdict

French politician Marine Le Pen, a leading figure in the right-wing National Rally (RN) party, was found guilty of embezzlement on Monday. She now faces a possible ban from seeking any public office in the country for several years, a scenario she has described as “political death.”

A Paris court did not immediately announce any specific punishment, with the reading out of the verdict expected to take hours.

RN and two dozen of its senior figures, including Le Pen, were accused of diverting over €3 million ($3.3 million) between 2004 and 2016. According to the accusations, money intended for payments to European Parliament aides instead went to national staff. Le Pen was found guilty alongside eight MEPs.

Prosecutors had asked for a five-year ban from public office for the 56-year-old MP to come into effect immediately, regardless of any appeals process. RN has described the charges as politically motivated, while Le Pen accused her opponents of aiming to cause her “political death.”

Le Pen ran for the French presidency in three consecutive elections, with outgoing leader Emmanuel Macron beating her in 2022 by less than 10 percent points.

In an unrelated case, the French Constitutional Council ruled on Friday that imposing an immediate political ban, termed a “provisional execution,” was legal under basic law. The body is the nation’s highest authority on constitutional matters.

Described as “far-right” by her critics, Le Pen has opposed EU policies on numerous issues, including Brussels’ handling of illegal immigration and support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.

Le Pen heads the RN faction in the National Assembly, but stepped down from the party leadership in 2022, when she was succeeded by Jordan Bardella.