By SYLVIE CORBET | Associated Press

PARIS  — A French court on Monday barred Marine Le Pen from seeking public office for five years, with immediate effect, for embezzlement — a hammer blow to the far-right leader’s presidential hopes.

Although she can appeal the verdict, such a move won’t suspend her ineligibility — which could rule her out of the 2027 presidential race.

Related Articles

Today in History: March 31, Bruce Lee’s son accidentally shot to death on movie set

‘Eid of sadness’: Palestinians in Gaza mark Muslim holiday with dwindling food and no end to war

California family’s anti-terrorism suit trods new ground in targeting Sinaloa cartel for DEA agent’s killing

Today in History: March 30, Reagan shot in assassination attempt

Hamas says it accepts a new Gaza ceasefire proposal but Israel makes a counter-offer

Le Pen left the high-rise Paris courthouse without stopping to speak to reporters and climbed into a car that drove her away.

Earlier Monday, from the front row of the court, Le Pen showed no immediate reaction when the judge declared her guilty. But she grew more agitated as the proceedings continued. She repeatedly nodded her head in disagreement as the judge went into greater detail with the verdict, saying Le Pen’s party had illegally used European Parliament money for its own benefit. “Incredible,” she whispered at one point.

The judge also handed down guilty verdicts to eight other current or former members of her party who, like her, previously served as European Parliament lawmakers.

Le Pen and her co-defendants face up to 10 years in prison. They can appeal, which would lead to another trial.

‘A political death’ scenario

The sentence prevents her from running for president in 2027. She has described such scenario as a “political death.”

The verdict was shaping up as a resounding defeat for Le Pen and her party. As well as finding her and eight other former European lawmakers guilty of embezzling public funds, the court also convicted 12 other people who served as parliamentary aides for Le Pen and what is now the National Rally party, formerly the National Front.

The judge said Le Pen had been at the heart of “a system” that her party used to siphon off EU parliament money. The judge said Le Pen and other co-defendants didn’t enrich themselves personally. But the ruling described the embezzlement as “a democratic bypass” that deceived the parliament and voters.

Le Pen and 24 other officials from the National Rally were accused of having used money intended for EU parliamentary aides to pay staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, in violation of the 27-nation bloc’s regulations. Le Pen and her co-defendants denied wrongdoing.

Le Pen has enjoyed growing support

Le Pen, 56, was runner-up to President Emmanuel Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her party’s electoral support has grown in recent years.

During the nine-week trial that took place in late 2024, she argued that ineligibility “would have the effect of depriving me of being a presidential candidate” and disenfranchise her supporters.

“There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. So tomorrow, potentially, millions and millions of French people would see themselves deprived of their candidate in the election,” she told the panel of three judges.

Le Pen’s seeming natural successor in 2027 elections would be Jordan Bardella, Le Pen’s 29-year-old protégé who succeeded her at the helm of the party in 2021.

Le Pen denied accusations she was at the head of the system meant to siphon off EU parliament money to benefit her party, which she led from 2011 to 2021. She argued instead that it was acceptable to adapt the work of the aides paid by the European Parliament to the needs of the lawmakers, including some political work related to the party.

Hearings showed that some EU money was used to pay for Le Pen’s bodyguard — who was once her father’s bodyguard — as well as her personal assistant.

Prosecutors requested a two-year prison sentence and a five-year period of ineligibility for Le Pen.

Le Pen said she felt they were “only interested” in preventing her from running for president.