Paris Court of Appeal to rule on Marine Le Pen conviction for misappropriation of European funds
The Paris Court of Appeal will deliver its verdict on 7 July on the case of misappropriation of European Parliament funds involving Marine Le Pen and her Rassemblement national party.
Paris Court of Appeal to rule on Marine Le Pen conviction for misappropriation of European funds
The Paris Court of Appeal is to deliver a decisive verdict on 7 July regarding the case of misappropriation of European Parliament funds involving Marine Le Pen and other members of her party, the Rassemblement national.
The judges will examine whether the far-right leader and her associates diverted funds intended to pay parliamentary assistants between 2004 and 2016. In March 2025, the Paris Correctional Court found that Le Pen was at the heart of a "fraudulent system" that allowed 2.9 million euros to be misappropriated.
This initial conviction resulted in a sentence of two years of home detention under electronic monitoring, as well as a ban from holding elected office for five years. The Rassemblement national party was also fined two million euros, half of which was suspended.
If the Court of Appeal confirms this decision, Marine Le Pen, currently leading in polls for the 2027 presidential election, would be barred from running. The first round of that election is scheduled for 18 April 2027.
The far-right leader declared last week that she would renounce candidacy even if only the requirement to wear an electronic bracelet was maintained, arguing that she could not conduct a campaign under such conditions.
If the ineligibility is confirmed, Le Pen could lodge an appeal to the Court of Cassation. The Court of Cassation, which verifies the correct application of the law without judging the facts, would take approximately six months to rule. In the event that she is definitively eliminated from the race, her protégé Jordan Bardella, 30 years old, could replace her as a candidate.
Legal experts consider a complete acquittal unlikely, given the evidence accepted at first instance. The court could also confirm guilt whilst reducing the penalty, which could reopen the path to a presidential candidacy if the ban on holding office were reduced to two years or less.
Source: Al Jazeera
Source: Google News IE — Crime (en)