Marine Le Pen, the French far-right politician who has declared her candidacy for the 2027 presidential election, has appealed to France’s highest court against her conviction for embezzling European Parliament public funds.
This was announced by a judicial source on Tuesday.
Le Pen, her National Rally party and 10 other senior figures convicted alongside her have lodged appeals with the Court of Cassation following the Paris Court of Appeal’s ruling on 7 July.
The appeal court found them guilty of misusing European Parliament funds between 2004 and 2016.
It ruled that an “organisation” had been set up to pay people as parliamentary assistants to members of the European Parliament even though they were in fact working for the party, in breach of strict European Parliament rules.
In the contracts examined by the court, the total loss to the European Parliament was put at €2.8 million over the 2004-2016 period.
Le Pen was initially banned for five years from holding office, but the appeal court reduced it to 15 months, a term she has already served, thus allowing her to stand in the 2027 election.
She announced her candidacy shortly after the ruling.
Le Pen was also sentenced to three years in prison, including one year under electronic tagging, but said she would campaign without wearing a tag because filing the appeal suspends the enforcement of the sentence.
Her appeal was lodged on 15 July.
The Court of Cassation is expected to rule before the first round of the presidential election on 18 April 2027.
Until the court reaches a decision, the sentences handed down on appeal remain suspended.
