France's Marine Le Pen has been found guilty of misappropriating European funds to finance her far-right National Rally (RN) party, in a case which could lead to her being barred from standing in the 2027 presidential election. Le Pen was accused, along with more than 20 other senior party figures, of hiring assistants who worked on her RN party affairs rather than for the European Parliament which paid them. Prosecutors last year said Le Pen's punishment should be not just a €300,000 (£250,000) fine and prison term, but also ineligibility from running for public office for five years.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen strode out of a French court as the chief judge on Monday barred her from seeking public office after she was found guilty of embezzling EU funds. The judge hasn’t yet said how long Le Pen will be ineligible for running for public office. Le Pen didn’t wait around to find out. In a moment of high drama, she got up and left, walking out of the court and then the courthouse before she was driven away.
Marine Le Pen has been banned from French politics with immediate effect but it remains unclear if she will be able to contest the next election. The judge is yet to reveal the length of her ban. If the provisional ban is less than 18 months, she can still run for president in 2027. Ms Le Pen stormed out of the court in frustration without waiting to hear the duration of the ban. The National Rally (RN) politician and dozens of party associates were found guilty of embezzling EU funds to pay party staff earlier this morning.
