Marine Le Pen to wear electronic tag after failing to appeal embezzlement conviction - but court says she can run for president
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has been banned from holding public office for 15 months and ordered to wear an electronic tag after failing to overturn a conviction for missusing public funds.
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An appeals court in Paris sentenced Le Pen on Tuesday to a three-year jail term with two years suspended, and fined her €100,000.
The far-right leader was also deemed ineligible to hold public office for 45 months, with 30 months suspended.
She has been ordered to wear an electronic ankle tag for one year, which comes ahead of a presidential election in France next year.
It means the National Rally leader could in theory run but would have to wear the tag.
She previously said she would not run in these conditions, arguing wearing a tag would make it impossible to hit the campaign trail.
Read more: Marine Le Pen appeals embezzlement conviction with 2027 presidential bid at stake
Her presidential hopes had been in limbo since March 2025, when she received a five-year ban from public office for embezzling more than €4 million ($4.6 million) from the European Parliament.
Le Pen was originally found guilty of being at the heart of a scheme to misappropriate EU funds intended to finance parliamentary assistants, using the money instead to pay National Rally (RN) employees.
She received a five-year ban from standing for elected office, effective immediately, a €100,000 fine and a four-year prison sentence — two of which were suspended, two to be served in home detention.
Today, a judge confirmed Le Pen is guilty of the charges.
Le Pen has spent more than a decade transforming the movement founded by her father Jean-Marie from a fringe nationalist party into what many view as a government-in-waiting, and a decision to uphold the ban would be bitter for her personally.
The RN, the biggest party in parliament, has already had to plan for a potential future without her as its candidate for the election.
RN officials say Le Pen would campaign alongside Jordan Bardella if he becomes the candidate, and the party leadership would remain united.