The Paris Court of Appeal upheld the conviction of National Rally leader Marine Le Pen but reduced the length of her ban from running for office. The decision effectively preserves her ability to take part in the 2027 presidential campaign.
The court sentenced Le Pen to three years in prison. She will not, however, go to jail: she is to spend one year under electronic monitoring, while another two years were suspended.
The main change concerned electoral restrictions. The court of first instance had barred Le Pen from running for office for five years, but the appeal reduced that period to 15 months.
As a result, the ban will expire before the 2027 presidential election and should not prevent Le Pen from putting herself forward as a candidate.
The case concerns the misuse of European Parliament budget funds. Investigators argued that National Rally MEPs formally registered party staff as parliamentary assistants even though they did not in fact work in the European Parliament and were instead engaged in party activity in France.
As a result, according to prosecutors, EU budget funds were used for the needs of National Rally.
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