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A Paris appeals court cleared the way for popular far-right leader Marine Le Pen to run for the French presidency next year but said she must wear an electronic bracelet, which she has said is a no-go.
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The verdict on Tuesday declared Le Pen guilty of embezzlement but softened the ban on her holding elected office, putting the ball in her court.
She must now decide whether campaigning in 2027 with an electronic monitoring bracelet as part of her sentence to be served at home is possible.
The verdict appears to be a partial victory for Le Pen.
It reduced her ban on elected office, from five years handed down last year, to 45 months, two-thirds of which are suspended.
It also cut her prison sentence from four years to three, two of which are suspended.
Still, the remaining year of prison time, to be served at home with an electronic bracelet, remains a potential hurdle and it’s not immediately clear whether she will campaign with that condition.
Le Pen is expected to outline her intentions in an evening television interview later on Tuesday.
‘Witch hunt’
The first trial last year found Le Pen, along with 24 former European lawmakers, assistants and accountants, as well as the anti-immigration party itself, guilty of operating a system from 2004-2016 to use European Parliament funds to employ RN staff in France.
The court sentenced Le Pen to a five-year ban from public office and four years in prison, with two suspended.
Le Pen claimed her party was the victim of a “witch hunt” and some supporters sent the judges death threats. Le Pen, the party and 10 others appealed.
During the appeal trial, she denied that the RN had a system to embezzle European Parliament funds and has said her party acted in “complete good faith.”
But prosecutors alleged she “professionalised” a way to divert EU funds first introduced haphazardly by her late father, party co-founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, after she took over its leadership from him in 2011.
Additional sources • AP, AFP
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