Le Pen's trial begins, which could definitively rule her out of the presidential race

ParisFrench far-right leader Marine Le Pen returns to the dock this Tuesday in a trial that will shape her political future. Le Pen was sentenced in March 2025 to four years in prison – only two of which were served –, five years of disqualification and a fine of 100,000 euros for misappropriation of European Parliament funds in the case of fraud in parliamentary assistant contracts. Unlike the prison sentence, the court of first instance ruled for the immediate application of the disqualification, even though the sentence was not yet final. De factoThe leader of the National Rally (RN) was barred from the presidential race for the 2027 elections. Le Pen appealed the sentence, and the appeal hearing, which is expected to last a month, begins this Tuesday. "I hope the court will hear me and that I can convince them of my innocence," the defendant declared on Monday. The verdict, which will not be announced for several months, could definitively end Marine Le Pen's hopes of running in the presidential elections to be held next spring. She could only be a candidate if she is acquitted or if the future sentence convicts her but reduces the disqualification period to two years.

Meanwhile, she retains her seat in the National Assembly, but once legislative elections are called, she will also be unable to run if the appeals court upholds her disqualification. What seems more unlikely is that Le Pen will end up in prison. She could probably serve the two years she would have to serve in jail—if the court were to ratify the sentence—substituting them with court-ordered monitoring and an electronic ankle bracelet.

Contracting Fraud

The initial ruling convicted the far-right party and 24 of its members for hiring staff as European Parliament assistants between 2009 and 2014—with salaries paid by the European Parliament—who actually worked for the party. Le Pen, for example, hired her bodyguards as parliamentary assistants, as well as the secretary and chief of staff of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Front (now National Rally). European Parliament regulations clearly state that assistants must work on tasks related to the European Parliament, so these contracts are considered fraudulent because they constitute misappropriation of public funds. The misappropriated money totals more than 3 million euros. Only 12 of those convicted appealed the sentence and are being retried starting today. "Political" decision

Le Pen called the first verdict a "political decision" and always maintained that the trial was a maneuver to remove her from the presidential race. During the trial, the defense strategy focused on arguing that the contracts were legal. Now, in the retrial, that could change: Le Pen is keeping one of her lawyers but has hired a new one, Sandra Chirac-Kollarik, who will lead her defense.