---
title: "France's Le Pen found guilty in graft trial, awaits decision on potential ban from politics"
description: "PARIS, March 31 (Reuters) - A French court found far-right leader Marine Le Pen guilty on Monday of misappropriating EU funds and the sentencing expected shortly could see her barred from the 2027 presidential race, upending politics in France."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Marine Le Pen"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-03-31-frances-le-pen-found-guilty-in-graft-trial-awaits-decision-on-potential-ban-from-politics/"
published: "2025-03-31T12:47:21"
updated: "2025-03-31T12:47:22"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 345
---

# France's Le Pen found guilty in graft trial, awaits decision on potential ban from politics

> PARIS, March 31 (Reuters) - A French court found far-right leader Marine Le Pen guilty on Monday of misappropriating EU funds and the sentencing expected shortly could see her barred from the 2027 presidential race, upending politics in France.

By Reuters · Published 31 March 2025, 14:47 SAST · Updated 31 March 2025, 14:47 SAST

## Key points
- Marine Le Pen's political ambitions for 2027 may hit a snag as a court finds her guilty of embezzling EU funds, leaving her to juggle a potential five-year ban from public office while shaking her head at what she claims is a conspiracy against her far-right party.
- Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, leads opinion polls for the 2027 presidential election.
- Prosecutors seek an immediate five-year ban from public office for Le Pen if found guilty of embezzlement, impacting her political future.
- The court found Le Pen and others guilty of misusing EU funds for party staff, with the judge emphasizing intentional embezzlement.
- Le Pen claims the prosecution is a political attack aimed at undermining her party, likening her situation to Donald Trump's legal challenges.

## Content

Le Pen, head of the far-right National Rally (RN), is the front-runner in opinion polls ahead of the 2027 vote.

[Prosecutors had asked](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N3PX092&linkedFromStory=true) that Le Pen face an immediate five-year ban from public office if found guilty, regardless of any appeal process, using a so-called "provisional execution" measure. Judges can adopt, modify or ignore the prosecutors' request.

An automatic five-year ban would hammer Le Pen, 56, a three-time presidential contender who has said 2027 will be her final run for top office. She would retain her parliamentary seat until the end of her mandate.

Issuing the guilty verdict, judge Benedicte de Perthuis said Le Pen had been at the centre of a system put in place by the party to use EU funds to pay France-based party staff.

"At the heart of this system since 2009, Marine Le Pen has placed herself with authority and determination in the system established by her father, in which she has participated since 2004," she said.

The court found Le Pen, eight other people who were EU lawmakers at the time and 12 parliamentary assistants guilty of embezzling EU funds. The defendants were not accused of pocketing the money, but rather of using EU funds to the benefit of their party.

Le Pen, who did not speak to reporters as she arrived in court, has accused prosecutors of seeking her "political death", alleging a plot to keep the RN from power that echoes claims made by U.S. President Donald Trump about his legal woes.

De Perthuis said investigations in the case "showed that these were not administrative errors ... but embezzlement within the framework of a system put in place to reduce the party's costs".

Le Pen, who sat in the front row in court, could be seen at times shaking her head slightly from right to left, indicating "no", while listening to the judge.

The defendants said the money was used legitimately and the allegations define too narrowly what a parliamentary assistant does.

(Writing by Gabriel Stargardter and Ingrid MelanderEditing by Richard Lough, Giles Elgood and Frances Kerry)