London: A French court has eased the way for right-wing leader Marine Le Pen to run for the nation’s presidency in an election next year, but she would have to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to serve out a sentence for misusing public funds.
The Paris Court of Appeal upheld a conviction against the National Rally leader for misusing European Union funds, but reduced the penalty against her, meaning she would not have to wear the ankle device for as long as previously expected.
The ruling complicates a decision within the party on how to fight for the presidency when it has gained ground in the opinion polls with its calls for a sharp change in the country’s direction to crack down on migration.
With French President Emmanuel Macron unable to contest the next election due to term limits, the presidential contest is shaping up as a defining vote on the country’s direction when the National Assembly is divided and voted to remove the prime minister last year.
Le Pen’s presidential hopes have been in limbo since March 2025, when she received a five-year electoral ban for embezzling more than €4 million ($6.6 million) from the European Parliament. She denied guilt and appealed.
The five-year ban from standing for elected office came into force immediately. Le Pen was also issued a €100,000 fine and sentenced to four years’ imprisonment, two of which were suspended and two of which were to be served in home detention.
Modifying that judgment, the Paris Court of Appeal sentenced Le Pen to three years in prison with two suspended and one year wearing an electronic tag. It upheld the €100,000 fine.
This would mean the National Rally leader would have to wear the ankle bracelet during the election campaign, an option she has previously rejected. She is due to speak on her future on Tuesday night in France (early on Wednesday, AEST).
Le Pen has spent more than a decade transforming the movement founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, from a fringe nationalist party into what many view as a government-in-waiting, and a decision to uphold the ban would be bitter for her personally.
Le Pen was originally found guilty of being at the heart of a scheme to misappropriate EU funds intended to finance parliamentary assistants, using the money instead to pay RN employees.
With Reuters
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David Crowe is Europe correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X or email.
