Paris, 9 July 2025 (dpa/MIA) - French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has failed in her attempt to have her provisional exclusion from elections suspended by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

The Strasbourg judges on Wednesday unanimously rejected her application for relief, stating that Le Pen did not face any irreparable harm protected under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Le Pen had filed the emergency application just one day earlier.

At the end of March, a French court convicted her of embezzling EU funds. The most controversial element of the ruling was a five-year ban on standing for public office. The sentence took immediate effect, despite an outstanding appeal.

The Court of Appeal is expected to issue its ruling next year.

France’s next presidential election is scheduled for 2027. While Le Pen has long been expected to run, the 56-year-old has now called on her political protégé, 29-year-old Jordan Bardella, to prepare as a potential candidate in case she is ultimately barred from standing.

Separately, French financial investigators on Wednesday searched the headquarters of Le Pen's far-right National Rally party, prosecutors said.

Photo: MIA archive