French court upholds Le Pen's fraud conviction, threatening 2027 presidential bid

Published on 07/07/2026 - 13:59 GMT+2

A Paris appeals court has upheld a fraud conviction against the leader of the far-rigth National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, threatening her 2027 bid for the presidency.

'Witch hunt'

The first trial last year found Le Pen, along with 24 former European lawmakers, assistants and accountants, as well as the anti-immigration party itself, guilty of operating a system from 2004-2016 to use European Parliament funds to employ RN staff in France.

The court sentenced Le Pen to a five-year ban from public office and four years in prison, with two suspended.

Le Pen claimed her party was the victim of a "witch hunt" and some supporters sent the judges death threats. Le Pen, the party and 10 others appealed.

During the appeal trial, she denied that the RN had a system to embezzle European Parliament funds and has said her party acted in "complete good faith."

But prosecutors alleged she "professionalised" a way to divert EU funds first introduced haphazardly by her late father, party co-founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, after she took over its leadership from him in 2011.

This is a developing story and our journalists are working on further updates.