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#France far-right leader Marine #LePen was banned from running for public office for 5yrs after being convicted on Monday of #embezzlement, a political watershed that effectively ruled her out of the 2027 presidential race.
The court's ruling was a catastrophic setback for Le Pen, the #NationalRally (#RN) party chief who has long been one of the most prominent figures of #Europe’s #FarRight & is the front-runner in polls for the 2027 contest.
#law #corruption #politics
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/frances-le-pen-faces-crunch-day-graft-trial-that-could-kill-her-presidential-2025-03-31/
The judge convicting #LePen of #embezzling #EU funds also gave her a 4-yr-#prison sentence—2 years of which are a suspended sentence & 2 which will be served under home detention. She received a €100k fine.
Le Pen will appeal, her atty said, & neither the prison sentence nor the fine will apply until appeals are exhausted. But the 5-yr ban from running for office kicks in immediately, via a so-called "provisional execution" measure requested by prosecutors.
[taking a page from #Trump’s script] #LePen's right-hand man, #RN president Jordan #Bardella, said: "Today it is not only Marine Le Pen who was unjustly convicted: It was French #democracy that was killed".
[She embezzled. That’s a #crime. When you commit a crime, & it’s proven in a court of #law, you face penalties. Period. Just like Trump committed his proven crimes. But the #US let him run anyway, so he faced no repercussions by winning. The US system failed where #France’s system held.]
@Nonilex Exactly. France has what the US claims: justice for all! Here, we all cheer.
Other countries are able to hold their powerful political figures accountable, something the US has always struggled with, and been unable to do for decades. The powerful and wealthy know they'll only face a fine in convicted, and they probably won't have to pay it. Freedom in the US only means freedom for rich people's money.
@Nonilex Coming from a far-right family, politics has been in her blood since birth. This sentence -- particularly the denial to run for office -- strikes at her very core. Without politics she will have difficulty re-defining herself. She'll fight this sentence at every opportunity.