A French court gives Marine Le Pen the chance to run for president, using her ankle
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A French appeals court on Tuesday upheld Marine Le Pen’s conviction for misusing EU funds but shortened her ban on running for public office, in a move that preserves the far-right leader’s chance to run for president in 2027.
However, the court also sentenced Le Pen to three years in prison – two suspended and one with an electronic tag. This could make the presidential campaign politically and logistically difficult.
It is now up to Le Pen to say whether she will run to become France’s first far-right president. He has to do a prime time interview on TF1 at 8 pm local time, where he can make an announcement about his political future.
Earlier, Le Pen said that she would hesitate to campaign for the president while he is serving a sentence under electronic recruitment, saying that it would interfere with the campaign and undermine his credibility. But you are yet to confirm what you will do.
When he left the court, Le Pen was smiling but did not say anything. He then went to the headquarters of his party, the anti-immigrant National Rally (RN), to discuss the next step.
Le Pen was convicted in March 2025 of embezzlement and immediately banned from holding public office for five years, as well as making her long-planned fourth bid for the presidency.
Tuesday’s appeal decision, in which Le Pen is disqualified from public office for 45 months, 30 of which are suspended, means she will be eligible to run for office in April 2027, because she has already used the 15-month ban, which has been in place since last year’s ruling.
Campaigning with an ankle monitor
The decision is likely to spark a heated debate within the RN, which has spent months preparing for two possible futures: one led by Le Pen and the other by party president Jordan Bardella.
The electronic tag was specified as part of a lighter prison sentence, and meant he would not have to go to prison.
The sentencing judge will decide on the terms of Le Pen’s tag, setting the hours she can be away from her home and what time she must return at night. Restrictions on weekends are often stricter.
A judicial source said the tag could complicate the country’s presidential campaign, as he would have to go home every night, but it might not make it impossible. Le Pen may also ask for the tag to be removed after a few months for good behavior, the source said.
Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s anti-immigrant National Rally group, Marine Le Pen, has been found guilty of fraud in a case involving European Union funds, with a five-year ban from public office ‘immediately.’
Polls have consistently shown both RN figures as strong contenders to reach the presidential election. Some recent polls even suggested that Bardella would beat Le Pen in the first round.
Le Pen’s conviction stems from allegations that National Rally figures misused European Parliament funds intended for parliamentary assistants, instead paying party workers in France. In 2025, the judges found that Le Pen had played a major role in the scheme, which she has always disputed.
The original decision drew criticism from Le Pen’s supporters in France and other countries, who accused lawmakers of influencing the democratic competition. Opponents argue that elected officials should be held to the same legal standards as any other citizen.
“The important thing for us, which we have been saying for years, is that they are exploiting, stealing, public money – the money of the European taxpayers,” said a representative of the European Parliament, Patrick Maisonneuve, told reporters. “Now it has been confirmed a second time: first by a lower court, today by the Court of Appeal.”
