French far-right party leader Marine Le Pen at the Paris courthouse in Paris, France in September of 2024. Le Pen was found guilty Monday of financial fraud and sentenced to four years in prison. EPA-EFE/JULIEN MATTIA
Marine Le Pen was found guilty Monday of misusing European Parliament monies and temporarily banned from running for public office.
Le Pen, the leader of France’s far-right Rassemblement National Party, was also sentenced by the three-judge panel to four years in prison, two of which were immediately suspended, and to pay approximately $108,000. Advertisement
Le Pen, who was expected to run in the 2027 French presidential election, was among 24 senior members of RN Party who were accused of using over $4.3 million of EP funds to pay people to work on RN Party affairs rather than for the EP itself.
She will not be permitted to run for office for five years.
She said during the 2024 trial that she had not committed even “the slightest irregularity,” but was alleged to be behind nearly $513,000 of the illicit expenditure.
RN was also found guilty and fined approximately $2.2 million, although that can be reduced if the party doesn’t repeat the crime in the future.
“Today, it is not only Marine Le Pen who is being unjustly condemned: it is French democracy that is being executed,” RN President Jordan Bardella posted to social media Monday. Advertisement
