France's most right-wing leader, Marine Le Pen, who became the country's next president, was banned from running for office for five years because she and her party were convicted of embezzling millions of euros of EU funds.
Ms. Le Pen, an anti-immigrant, populist politician, was also sentenced to four years in prison – suspended for two years and served in the House of Representatives arrest – and fined 100,000 euros, about $108,000. She has been denied any misconduct and will appeal the verdict, which will result in her imprisonment and fines.
But the rulings against Ms. Le Pen and her party threaten to undermine her plans to run for president in 2027. She spent years trying to soften the party’s image and shifted it to the mainstream by placing it behind French leaders after it was removed from its anti-Semitic roots.
Who is the Marine Corps?
Ms. Le Pen, 56, became the most distant face in France after taking over the party from her father Jean-Marie Le Pen in 2011.
Ms. Le Pen tried to detoxify the political movement he established by softening some policies, changing the party's name from the National Front to a national rally, openly rejecting her father's anti-Semitism – he was convicted by the French Holocaust Court because he said the “Nazi gas box” of the Nazi gas box was “details of history” and attempting to commit a competing voter.
But even with the tone change, Ms. Le Pen’s platform is firmly right. Her policies include strict measures to curb immigration and promote French-born citizens to have more social welfare and other areas of support, although some believe this may be a violation of the French Constitution.
Ms. Le Pen has run for the country's top position three times and although she has not won, she has succeeded in steadily increasing her share of voting and expanding the party's influence. In the last presidential election in 2022, she won 41.5% of the vote, up from 33.9% of the last election five years ago.
Last year, the National Rally became the National Assembly for the first time, the largest single party in the country's lower house parliament.
What is an allegation?
The French criminal court ruled that Ms. Le Pen played a “core role” in the party's illegal program, still known as the National Front, and used nearly $5 million in European Parliamentary funds to party fees between 2004 and 2016. The party at that time had no cash, and Le Pen was a member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2017 to 2017.
The court ruled that the party used European Parliament funds to pay the institutions' national front members that had no work related to EU operations. The judge rejected Ms. Le Pen’s argument that it is appropriate for assistants to do the work related to the political party.
Chairman Judge Bénédict de Perthuis called the injunction necessary because of the seriousness of the charges and the fact that the defendants seemed reluctant to admit the facts. She said the court must “make sure that elected officials, like any citizen, do not benefit from any favorable treatment.”
Ms. Le Pen called the case a political witch hunt.
What's next for Ms. Le Pen and her party?
Ms. Le Pen left the court before she read out the full verdict and did not speak to her when she left the reporter. She is scheduled to speak on French television later Monday.
The court's ruling will not deprive her of a seat in the National Assembly, but Ms. Le Pen can only run for president in 2027 if she gets a more favorable appeal ruling before she competes before she enters the competition before the deadline. But even the appeal of success can take some time.
The court also ruled that state gatherings must pay a fine of 2 million euros, half of which will be suspended. The other 23 people were convicted of plans related to the scheme to embezzle European Parliament funds.
However, the ruling did not prevent Ms. Le Pen from running for president in her absence. He is seen as the leading alternative candidate.
Where does this leave France?
The ruling could reignite the political chaos that France sensation last year after President Emmanuel Macron called the SNAP election. The French government is unpopular and has worked hard to pass the budget this year. Members of the National Assembly can overturn it.
Ms. Le Pen and the National Rally could also describe the verdict as a threat to popular politicians and parties and French democracy itself.
