French Court Convicts Opposition Leader, Marine Le-Pen of Embezzlement, Bans Her from Public Office

French far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, has been found guilty of embezzlement by a French Criminal court.

The judge,  Benedicte de Perthuis sentenced her to a 4-year jail term and further banned her from public office for five years effectively stopping her from contesting the 2027 French presidential election.

Le-Pen is seen as a frontline contender for French presidency in 2027.

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According to the judge, Ms. Le-Pen and her party officials did not take the money from the EU purse for themselves, but the money was used to fund their party.

“De Perthuis said Le Pen had been “at the heart” of the scheme. The judge said investigations “showed that these were not administrative errors … but embezzlement within the framework of a system put in place to reduce the party’s costs.”

The ruling according to political pundits is a major shakeup to the county’s modern democracy, as Ms. Le-pen has become the face of the opposition in France haven contested the Presidency in 20212, 2017 and 2022.

Reuters reports that, “judge who convicted Le Pen of misappropriating European Union funds also gave her a four-year prison sentence – two years of which are suspended and two years to be served under home detention. She received a 100,000-euro ($108,200) fine.”

Though she declined to speak to the press after the ruling, the 56 year old lawyer and  politician is billed to appear on a national TV to speak on the court ruling later on Monday evening.

Reacting to the court ruling, Jordan Bardella, Ms. Le Pen’s protégé and a likely presidential candidate in her absence, in a social media post stated that,  “Today it is not only has Marine Le Pen been unjustly convicted, French democracy has been executed.”

Several far-right leaders across Europe including Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orban and his Italian Deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini have condemned the ruling.

Salvini in his reaction said, “We will not be intimidated, we will not stop: full steam ahead my friend!”