Marine Le Pen found guilty, but court clears way for presidential run if she wears tag

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. Marine Le Pen found guilty, but court clears way for presidential run if she wears tagImage source, Getty ImagesByPaul Kirby, Europe digital editor and Laura GozziPublished38 minutes agoThe Paris appeal court has upheld Marine Le Pen's conviction for misusing EU funds but shortened her sentence, clearing the path for her to run in the April 2027 French presidential election. A five-year ban on holding public office has been reduced and backdated to March 2025, and the court said it now considered the penalty had already been served. However, the leader of the hard-right National Rally (RN) has been given a one-year term wearing an electronic ankle tag under house arrest, although that would not necessarily stop her running either.

Le Pen has said repeatedly she would not run for president if she had to wear an electronic tag as she would not feel "totally free" to campaign. She is expected to announce whether she will stick with that decision in a national TV appearance tonight at 20:00 (19:00 BST) - or hand her candidacy to her protege, 30-year-old Jordan Bardella. Marine Le Pen leads the opinion polls with under 10 months to go.

The Details

She has run for the presidency three times already, and has lost twice in a row to Emmanuel Macron, who cannot run again. Macron has declined to comment on the verdict. In her last TV interview a week ago the National Rally leader signalled her conditions for running for president to the judges as well as the broader public.

She would not campaign for the presidency while wearing a tag, she told news channel LCI, because "when you're a presidential candidate you need to have total freedom of movement… I can't rely on a judge to allow me to hold a campaign rally or go to a market". The court's response, delivered months after her appeal was heard in January and February, made clear the judges were not standing in her way. They had weighed up the sentences of ineligibility for public office against the "freedom of candidacy" and the "free choice of electors", they explained.

In a later communique, they added it was for the court to assess whether the punishment was proportionate. Running as a candidate and the right to vote was part of the democratic process, they said. However, they found Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzling funds meant for members of the European Parliament from 2004-16 and using the money to pay for party staff.

What Experts Say

Image source, via Getty ImagesImage caption, Marine Le Pen now has to decide whether she or Jordan Bardella should run for National RallyThe three-year prison sentence involves two years suspended and one year wearing an electronic tag. Le Pen's original sentence required two years with an ankle bracelet. Earlier on Tuesday, the head of the conservative Republicans party Bruno Retailleau told French TV that politicians were neither above or below the law but hoped that the verdict would not be "political".

This verdict fulfils both those points.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.