Paris, 31 March 2025 (dpa/MIA) - A criminal court in Paris found French far-right nationalist politician Marine Le Pen guilty of embezzling EU funds on Monday.

A sentence has not yet been handed down and it remains unclear how the verdict might impact her political career.

The judge also delivered guilty verdicts to eight other members of her party who, like Le Pen, served as lawmakers in the European Parliament. Additionally, 12 parliamentary assistants were found guilty.

The court is expected to rule on whether Le Pen is eligible to run in the 2027 presidential election.

Le Pen expected to appeal verdict

She is expected to appeal the ruling, setting the stage for a potentially lengthy legal battle.

"It is my political death that is being sought," Le Pen has said in response to the prosecution's demand that she be immediately barred from standing for political office.

This decision would dash her hopes of competing again in the next presidential election in 2027.

Prosecution asking for jail sentence and fine

Le Pen and her co-defendants face up to 10 years in prison. In addition to a jail sentence and a fine, the prosecution has demanded that Le Pen be banned from standing for election for five years.

The central accusation was that Le Pen's National Rally party received money from the European Parliament for parliamentary assistants who were actually working either partly or wholly for the party itself.

The case was viewed as a major setback in Le Pen's efforts to normalize the party's image.

A total of 28 defendants were accused in the case, which is said to involve a sum of almost €7 million ($7.3 million).

Le Pen paid back €330,000 to the European Parliament in 2023. However, her party emphasized that this was not an admission of misconduct.

The allegations, which relate to the years 2004 to 2016, have dogged Le Pen and her party for years.

Le Pen has always rejected accusations

Le Pen has consistently denied the accusations against her. "I do not feel that I have committed the slightest irregularity or illegality," she stated during the trial.

The court case comes at a particularly inopportune time for France's right-wing nationalist party, which has been steadily gaining momentum and is now more strongly represented in parliament than ever before.

The Front National, founded by her late father Jean-Marie Le Pen, was rebranded as the National Rally in 2018 by Marine Le Pen, who shifted the party’s focus away from extreme positions in an effort to broaden its appeal and make it electable to a wider segment of the population.

Photo: EPA