Updated 14.43 | Published 13.55
Right-wing leader Marine Le Pen was today in court in Paris.
During Tuesday afternoon, the verdict came.
The far-right leader Marine Le Pen was convicted last year of having misused EU funds and at the same time was given a five-year ban from running in public elections.
On Tuesday, the court announced i Paris its judgment following Le Pen’s appeal, essentially upholding the earlier ruling.
Le Pen was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 euros. She is also sentenced to three years in prison, of which two years are suspended. The third is served with an electronic foot shackle, according to Le Monde.
The possibilities of running for office are therefore considered small.
Le Pen has run for the French presidency three times – in 2012, 2017 and 2022. In the 2017 and 2022 elections, she made it to the second round, losing both times to Emmanuel Macron.
Misused EU funds
Together with eight other people, she allegedly misused EU funds intended for assistants to members of the European Parliament. According to the court, it was about four million euros.
The court held that National collection (RN) used the EU grants to pay people who in practice worked for the party’s activities in Franceinstead of its MEPs.
Le Pen has always denied the accusations and claimed that both the prosecution and the sentence are politically motivated.
