A French court has found Marine Le Pen guilty of fraud and banned her from holding public office for five years, a major blow to her presidential ambitions and a shock to France's political scene.
In her first comments on French TV channel TF1, Le Pen described the decision as “politically motivated” and aimed at preventing her from running in the 2027 presidential election, adding that millions of French people were “outraged” by the situation.
She described the verdict as a violation of the rule of law, said she would appeal it and demanded that the trial be completed before the start of the 2027 election campaign.
She will not be able to run for office until her appeal is heard.
Le Pen was also sentenced to four years in prison, two of which must be served under house arrest and two years suspended.
The ruling was both a political and legal shock to France, thwarting one of the leading contenders to succeed President Emmanuel Macron at the end of his second and final term.
The political fallout has been so significant that even some of Le Pen's opponents have expressed the view that the Paris court intervened excessively in the situation.
However, it is too early to assess how this will affect voters.
Le Pen's possible removal could inspire loyalists of US President Donald Trump, just as legal challenges have spurred some of them into action.
However, it could also leave her on the sidelines, undermining her growing prospects.
Le Pen said the court should not have disqualified her from running for president until all her appeals had been exhausted, and that the ruling showed the court was “deliberately preventing” her from being elected president.
“If this is not a political decision, I don't know what is,” Le Pen said in an interview with TF1.
She added that the decision was a “fateful day for our democracy” but vowed to continue to follow what she called the “narrow” path to the presidency.
“Millions of French people believe in me, millions of French people trust me,” she stressed, adding: “I have fought for you for 30 years, and I have fought against injustice for 30 years, so I will continue to fight.”
Le Pen herself was not there to hear the chief justice deliver the verdict that put her career in jeopardy.
She had already left the courtroom when the judge first mentioned that the 56-year-old woman would be suspended from her post, without specifying a period of time.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
