French Far-right Leader Marine Le Pen Found Guilty of Embezzling EU Funds

Addis Ababa, March 31, 2025 (ENA)—A French court has convicted French far-right leader Marine Le Pen of embezzling money from the European parliament.

She was banned from running for public office for five years after being convicted on Monday of embezzlement, a political watershed that rules her out of the 2027 presidential race unless she can win an appeal.

The French court’s ruling is considered as a catastrophic setback for Le Pen, the National Rally (RN) party chief who has long been one of the most prominent figures in the European far right.

 The politician had been also the front-runner in opinion polls for the 2027 contest.

Le Pen's lawyer said she would appeal the verdict, but she will remain ineligible while she does and so could be ruled out of the 2027 presidential race.

She was also sentenced to four years' imprisonment, with two to be served under house arrest and two suspended— and a 100,000 Euro (170,000 USD) fine.

Le Pen, her National Rally party (RN) and some two dozen party figures were accused by prosecutors of diverting over 4.1 million Euros of European Parliament funds to pay staff working for the party in France.

The defendants said the money was used legitimately and that the allegations incorporated too narrow a definition of what a parliamentary assistant does.

Le Pen has accused the prosecutors of seeking her "political death", arguing the provisional execution request was "completely disproportionate".

She and her allies allege a witch-hunt to keep the RN out of power, echoing claims made by US President Donald Trump over his legal woes.